Consultation on apprsl process for start-up aid less than 3mppa
The Department for Transport (DfT) have released a ‘Consultation on the appraisal process for start-up aid for airports with less than 3mppa’.
In the 2014 Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer further increased the support for regional air connectivity to London from £10 million to £20 million per annum, and extended the fund to include start-up aid for new routes from regional airports which handle fewer than five million passengers per year.
Start-up aid will allow the Government to provide financial assistance to an airline for a maximum of three years to support the establishment of a new route that will facilitate economic growth in the region served by the airport. Any aid provision will be subject to the 2014 European Commission (EC) aviation State aid guidelines for airports and airlines.
The Department for Transport have submitted a draft Protocol to the EC that provides a framework of rules and guidance for aid that can be provided to airlines for new routes from airport of fewer than 3 million passengers per annum.
Upon clearance of this Protocol by the Commission, the UK Government can award aid in respect to routes from airports handling fewer than 3 million passengers per annum
The Department have therefore developed an Appraisal Framework that will allow it to evaluate bids received against the aims of the fund to determine whether a scheme should receive funding and in cases where funding requests exceed the funding available it will allow the Department to rank scheme to determine which schemes should receive funding.
The consultation will run until 11 December. Full details of the consultation, including the consultation document, are available on the Publications page of the SASIG website.