Transport Ministry Announces Tender for Regular Bratislava-Kosice Flights

Bratislava, December 4 (TASR) - The Transport Ministry has announced a tender to operate regular flights from Bratislava to Kosice, Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) informed the media following the cabinet session on Wednesday. The regular route should be launched as of next March, with flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. "As we've informed you in the past, we've obtained the European Commission's permission to launch an air link between Bratislava and Kosice in the public interest. We managed to complete our call yesterday (December 3), and we've sent it to the EU Journal. We'd like to invite all providers interested in serving this route to apply for the tender. I hope we'll be able to fly on this route regularly as of March," said the minister. "I'd like to outline a few parameters of how we've set this up. The maximum one-way fare without luggage has been set at €80, with one including luggage at €90. A return air ticket without luggage should cost a maximum of €130, while one with luggage shouldn't exceed €145," said Raz. He pointed out that air ticket price is one of the tender criteria, so it can still move, but only downwards. "I believe that we'll have this tender closed by the beginning of next year, we'll know the name of the airline and that we'll be able to open the route as of March," said the minister. "The minimum capacity of the aircraft has been set at 40 passengers," said Raz, who expects huge demand from airlines to serve the route. ko/df