Rega appeals Valais contract decision

The appeal was lodged with the Council of State for the Canton of Valais this month. In it, Rega argued that ‘the tendering procedure was designed from the outset so that the two Valais service providers, Air Zermatt and Air-Glaciers, won the mandate’.

More specifically, it argued that the needs assessment carried out by the CPVO against which the tendering process was assessed ‘concealed the existing shortcomings in emergency medicine in the Valais air rescue system’.

Additionally, Rega claimed that the evaluation of the tenders was ‘carried out in a targeted manner’ that favored the incumbent organizations, to the detriment of its own submission. It said that the tendering process didn’t take into account ‘aspects of emergency medicine and the technical equipment of helicopters’.

Rega continued: “In addition, the award criteria were not weighted, changed several times or were not applied at all during the evaluation. Finally, the needs assessment was carried out in violation of impartiality rules. Rega considers it not acceptable that representatives of Air Zermatt and Air-Glaciers, who are also members of the CPVO Management Board, were involved in the needs assessment.”

CPVO awarded the contract to Air-Glaciers and Air Zermatt, the current incumbents, on 29 November. Operations are due to begin under the new contract from May 2023. Air-Glaciers and Air Zermatt merged in April 2020.