The Bahamas taking control of its airspace willl be done on a gradual basis over several years and will only be ceded by the FAA when The Bahamas is prepared and certified to take control, said Prime Minister Christie yesterday.
Mr. Christie was responding to The Tribune’s inquiries about the complications government may have to face in reclaiming control of Bahamian arispace in the hopes of increasing the country’s revenue.
On May 28th, Prime Minister Christie announced in his Budget Communication to the House that the most important part of the government’s plan for new revenue was “from the fees which will be collected from the introduction of a Flight Information Region (FIR) and Air Traffic Control system from The Bahamas.”
He said that at present these fees are collected by the U.S. authorities because they provide air traffic control over most of the area over the Bahamas. We intend that air traffic control will become a responsibility of the Department of Civil Aviation and as a consequence, the fees will revert to the Treasury.
Mr. Christie told The Tribune that the government has already allocated in the 2003/2004 budget, $5 million for the first phase of the process which includes application and certification of the airspace on a proportional basis.
However, according to subsequent Tribune reports, The Bahamas may have to wait two years before it can take control of its airspace to allow government to collect tens of millions of dollars in fees now collected by the U.S.
A well placed source pointed out that a number of complications The Bahamas government may face to reach its end, including the possibility of having to broker trilateral negotiations with the U.S. and Cuba, in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to define the precise dimensions of the new flNassau Flight Information Region (FIR).
Source: The Tribune
