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Find a Tender Service (UK Cabinet Office / Crown Commercial Service) verified 3 days ago Contract notice

Provision for Public Service Obligation Air Services

Open United Kingdom Transport services

Buyer Argyll and Bute Council

80 days left

Key facts

Closes
12:00 (UTC)
Estimated value
€2.4M
€2,360,984 · converted from GBP
Procedure
Open procedure Anyone may submit a bid, in one step, with no pre-selection. Full entry
View the official notice Watch this tender
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Summary

Machine-generated summary

Argyll and Bute Council intends to procure a four-year contract for scheduled passenger air services between Oban, Coll, Colonsay and Tiree. The contract is expected to commence on 16 September 2027 and will be supported by a fixed annual subsidy. The successful operator will be responsible for designing, operating and marketing the service, and for meeting associated reporting requirements.

The Aperlena Verdict

Open race

No supplier dominates: 3 different companies have won the last 3 comparable contracts from this buyer over 5 years. This is a genuinely open race.

How we count

Based on 3 comparable awards by this buyer in this sector over 5 years. Every verdict is recorded before the outcome and graded against the award notice. How we score ourselves.

Timing

84 days from publication to deadline. Usual length in United Kingdom: 30 days. Longer than usual

  1. Published
  2. Today
  3. Deadline
  4. Awarded pending
More figures

Notices of this kind (United Kingdom, open procedure) give a median of 30 days, half of them between 24 and 34 days, based on 568 notices of the last two years.

This buyer usually gives 29 days (median of its last 14 calls for tender).

Description

Argyll and Bute Council is seeking to appoint a single operator to deliver Public Service Obligation (PSO) Air Services connecting Oban with the islands of Coll, Colonsay and Tiree. The Contract is for a four-year period commencing on 16 September 2027 and ending on 15 September 2031. The Services are intended to provide safe, reliable, resilient and financially sustainable air connectivity for island communities, supporting access to education, healthcare, essential services, employment, tourism and economic development. The successful Operator shall be responsible for the operation, management and delivery of the scheduled air services, including aircraft, crew, maintenance, booking and ticketing arrangements, customer service, marketing, performance reporting and associated operational activities in accordance with the Contract requirements.

Change history

Every time an official source republished this notice with different content. We watch every source we index, including regional copies of the same notice.

  1. Read before bidding
    Title
    Was: Provision of Air Services
    Now: Provision for Public Service Obligation Air Services
    Status
    Was: Upcoming
    Now: Open
    Main CPV code
    Was: 60410000
    Now: 60400000
    Estimated value
    Was: €2,391,954
    Now: €2,360,984 -1%
    Submission deadline
    not stated
    Now: January 15, 2027, 12:00
    Scope and criteria
    The description was expanded. Re-read it before you bid.
    Procedure
    not stated
    Now: Open procedure
    Estimated value
    Was: €2,048,828
    Now: €1,977,796 -3%

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Bid or no-bid?

3 of 6 answered from the register

Six questions before you commit a team. Under each one, what the register holds on it. The answers are yours.

  1. In your favour:

    Do we meet every eligibility criterion?

    Open procedure: any interested supplier may submit a bid.

  2. Your call:

    Can we deliver this with the team we have?

    Estimated at €2.4M.

  3. Your call:

    Do we have two comparable references?

    Comparable work is in Transport services.

  4. In your favour:

    Is the deadline realistic for a proper offer?

    80 days left, 58 of them working days.

  5. Your call:

    Is there a margin at the likely winning price?

    In this country this kind of contract is usually awarded for between €20,197 and €65,480.

  6. In your favour:

    Do we know this buyer?

    3 different companies won the last 3 comparable contracts.

Can I bid?

  • Open procedure: any interested supplier may submit a bid.
  • Documents in English.

Official source

Source: Find a Tender Service (UK Cabinet Office / Crown Commercial Service)

Always verify details on the official notice.

Last verified against Find a Tender Service (UK Cabinet Office / Crown Commercial Service) 3 days ago

Documents on Find a Tender Service (UK Cabinet Office / Crown Commercial Service) (English)

Market

Transport services in United Kingdom

median award in this market
€34,070
tenders per lot in this market
9.8
More figures

What this market pays

The buyer has too few awards of its own in this sector, so this is the range of the last 868 awards for Transport services in United Kingdom.

This notice
€2.4M
Median award
€34,070
Middle half of past awards
€20,197 to €65,480

The estimate is larger than three in four past awards.

Award values as published by the official sources. Use them as a guide, not a rule: scope, lots and duration differ between contracts.

Market context

Larger than 73% of the open notices in Transport services across Europe.

open now in Transport services
1,193
median open notice
€624,776

Who wins in this market

Many suppliers

United Kingdom · Transport services

different companies won awards here
485
of the awards went to the three most frequent winners
9%
buyers awarded contracts here
84

Based on 1,564 awards with a named winner over the last 3 years. Counted by award, not by value, because lot and framework amounts are not comparable. Concentrated means the three most frequent winners took 65% or more of the awards; many suppliers, under 35% with at least ten different winners.

Competition

tenders per lot on average (open and restricted procedures)
9.8
of those lots received a single tender
0%
of the awards went to companies based in another country
0%
of the tenders came from another country
0%

As the official award notices state them, over the last 3 years. Tenders per lot count open and restricted procedures only: in a negotiated procedure or a direct award a single tender is the procedure itself. The country is the one the notice gives for the winner.

The buyer in figures

Argyll and Bute Council

notices in the register
86
awards
50
awarded in total
€5.2M

Who wins its contracts

Many suppliers
different companies won its awards
44
of the awards went to the three most frequent winners
16%
of its calls state an estimated value
43%

Based on 49 awards with a named winner over the last 3 years. Counted by award, not by value, because lot and framework amounts are not comparable. Concentrated means the three most frequent winners took 65% or more of the awards; many suppliers, under 35% with at least ten different winners.

One dot per award, on the day it was signed, sized by its value. A ring is an award with no published value.

The buyer

Full buyer profile

Argyll and Bute Council

United Kingdom

Who usually wins this buyer's contracts in this sector

Company Wins Total awarded Last win
Craig of Campbeltown Ltd 1 Aug 2026
PDG Helicopters 1 Oct 2026
The Ulva Ferry 1 Aug 2026

Based on 3 awards with a linked company profile over the last 5 years.

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80 days left

Open notice

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