Official UK procurement notice
Provision for Public Service Obligation Air Services
Authority: Argyll and Bute Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionArgyll 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.
- Recurrence: Approximated 2 years and 6 months to 3 years.
CPV: Air transport services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Argyll and Bute Council seeks to appoint a single operator to provide Public Service…RenewalPublished value£1,977,796
Argyll and Bute Council seeks to appoint a single operator to provide Public Service Obligation (PSO) Air Services between Oban, Coll, Colonsay and Tiree for a four-year period commencing 16 September 2027. The Contract covers the operation of safe, reliable and resilient scheduled passenger air services supporting connectivity, education, healthcare, economic development and tourism for the island communities served. Additional information: The subsidy represents the maximum funding available from the Council. The Contract Price is the amount proposed by the Tenderer to deliver the Services and must not exceed the maximum subsidy available.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (4)
- Service Proposal: 54%
- Community Benefits: 2%
- Commercial Proposal: 34%
- price: 10%
Published award criteria (6)
- Service Proposal: 54
- Commercial Proposal: 34
- Community Benefits: 2
- Fair Work Practices: 0
- Prompt Payment Performance: 0
- Price: 10%
- Suitability
As detailed in the Invitation to Tender.
- Technical & professional ability
As detailed in the Invitation to Tender
- Price carries 44 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4.4 points. Quality carries 56 of 100: the paper moves it further than the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £988,221 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Argyll and Bute Council buys Air transport services (CPV 6040), and who usually turns up
Argyll and Bute Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Air transport services (CPV 6040) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 35 days of the bid deadline.
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How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid100% / 46%
2–30% / 32%
4–60% / 8%
7+0% / 14%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate21% / 36%
Within ±2%50% / 18%
Above estimate29% / 45%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
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What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1Argyll and Bute Council seeks to appoint a single operator to provide Public Service…CPV 6040Published estimate£2.0m
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid86%
2–312%
4–61%
7+0%
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Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
Based on 3 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£1.9m–£2.0m
Estimate£2.0m
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
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Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDG HelicoptersLive contract | Provision of Election Night Flight Servicesruns to Aug 2031 | — | £118k | Matched as the earlier contract |
| DirectFlightWorked for this buyer | Provision of Scotland’s West Coast Air Services between Oban and the Islands of Coll, Colonsay and Tireenotice published May 2023 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
DirectFlightSME | £3.6m4 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 2 live · £1.4m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 10% above n=2 |
Ezy CarsSME | £323k29 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 8 live · £312k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs |
| £8.0m1 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | None on file | no comparable pairs | |
| £3.9m4 awards in 36m · last 7 months ago | 4 live · £4.0m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs | |
Loganair LimitedLarge | £20m4 awards in 36m · last 9 months ago | None on file | 14% above n=2 |
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
40% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
40% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (40% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Provision of Election Night Flight Services — held by PDG Helicopters; the published contract ends 31 Aug 2031.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · Approximated 2 years and 6 months to 3 years.
- First published
- 2 Sept 2026, 12:23 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Oct 2026, 09:50 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 15 Jan 2027 – …
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100260- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f050Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Performance terms
As detailed in the Invitation to Tender.
Publisher note: As detailed in the Invitation to Tender NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=846446. The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx. Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/community-benefits-in-procurement/ A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows: Please see attached Invitation to Tender. (SC Ref:846446)
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Public Contracts ScotlandTender documents are also served through a separate tool: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk ↗
- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 15 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 120 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 15 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
Timeline
23 Oct 2026 → 16 Sept 2027 · 5 dates- Notice published1 day ago23 Oct 2026, 09:50 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Next notice expectedin 36 days30 Nov 2026
- Submission deadlinein 83 days15 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Bids openedin 83 days15 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Contract startsin 326 days16 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Oct 2026- Published value updated to £1,977,79623 Oct 2026, 09:50 BSTwas £2,048,828
- Status changed to active23 Oct 2026, 09:50 BST
- Procurement method changed23 Oct 2026, 09:50 BST
- Deadline published: 15 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT23 Oct 2026, 09:50 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Oban Sheriff CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria