But Bahamasair’s Managing Director Paul Major said that plan is unlikely to impact the national flag-carrier’s new Freeport-Fort Lauderdale service.
In late January, the Royal Oasis acquired Bahamasair to service the Freeport-Lauderdale route after the resort ended its more than 10-year-long charter contract with Laker Airways.
The contract termination, which was reportedly due to the resort’s financial constraints, forced Laker to cease operations and lay off close to 50 Bahamians.
Mary Mainot, managing director of Laker, told the Bahama Journal Monday that the airline plans to resume its seven day a week service to Freeport, but will start off by providing chartered service to Grand Bahama and New Providence.
“The schedule [to Freeport] will be finalized this week,” she said. “We have several charters booked to go to Nassau in May and June. We have done some flights to Trinidad and San Martin, but most importantly we will be re-starting scheduled service to the Bahamas.
“We have re-instated its crews. We had all except two people come back to work. [Those] two chose not to [come back].”
Laker Airways brought in nearly three million visitors to Grand Bahama since the early 1990’s and was the dominant carrier for one third of the island’s guests who traveled primarily from the Fort Lauderdale International Airport.
Hoping to regain its status in the South Florida market prior to late January, Ms. Mainot said that Laker plans to be very competitive with both Bahamasair and Continental Express in providing service to Fort Lauderdale.
But Mr. Major told the Journal that so far Bahamasair’s service, which is subsidized by the operators of the Royal Oasis Resort, is performing “very well”.
He expressed doubt regarding just how competitive Laker will be once it reenters the market.
“I don’t think their service will impact our service unless [Laker] plans to give tickets away,” Mr. Major said. “Laker’s operational costs are so much higher than ours to operate their 727 jets from Fort Lauderdale.
“This is why Bahamasair and [Falcon Air Express] ended up with the business because Laker’s operational costs are so much higher. The costs are somewhat prohibitive in a Freeport-Lauderdale market.”
Royal Oasis acquired the services of Falcon Air Express to fly the Northeastern U.S. routes serviced by Laker.
According to Mr. Major, Bahamasair’s weekly Dash-8 and weekend jet service to Fort Lauderdale has been flying at a 60 percent load since January 26.
“Anything over 50 percent means we are making money,” he said.
But he emphasizes that this service, unlike Bahamasair’s failed Freeport-Miami venture, is not a “risk-service” because the national flag-carrier is paid by the Driftwood Group (operators of Royal Oasis) regardless of how many persons choose its service.
According to Ms. Mainot, Laker will begin providing jet service to Freeport on Fridays and Sundays, peak travel days for Bahamasair’s jet service to and from Fort Lauderdale.
When Royal Oasis officials confirmed to the Journal late last year that the hotel’s contract with Laker had been terminated, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said that the government hoped to see Bahamasair play a significant role in filling Laker’s void.
When asked how secure any new arrangements would be between Driftwood and an airline carrier, Minister Wilchcombe said the problems with Driftwood and Laker came about due to the airline’s high operational costs, which the Royal Oasis Resort had to bear for many years.
Mr. Major said that an official contract signing ceremony between Bahamasair and the Driftwood Group will take place in Freeport next week Wednesday.
He indicated that the specifics of Bahamasair’s contract with Driftwood would be discussed during next week’s event.
Sharon Williams, The Bahama Journal
