Beginning on April 15th the company will begin offering flight services from
Freeport to Fort Lauderdale.
Randy Butler, President and CEO of SkyBahamas said now is an opportune time for the company to stretch its wings.
"We believe this is the right time to launch this flight based on
what's happening in the global economy, it's rebounding," he said. "We
also have the confidence in Freeport, along with the Freeport people."
Butler said that the company will start by offering flights four days
a week, two times per day on Sundays, Mondays, Thursday and Fridays.
Depending on the response he said the schedules may later increase.
Butler said to ensure the success of SkyBahamas' latest venture the
company will seek to partner with all of the relevant stakeholders in
the tourism industry - hotels, casinos and taxi drivers.
"We are hoping we'll be their bridge so that people will have high
quality service at an affordable rate to come to Freeport," he said.
Butler said that he expects the new services to give Grand Bahama
that much needed tourism boost - something he very much wants to be a
part of for the island.
"We are going to be a part of the solution to Grand Bahama's rebound.
We will go down in the history books as being a part of the Grand
Bahama rebound," he said.
An important aspect of the services SkyBahamas will provide Butler said is pre-clearance to the United States.
"The significance about pre-clearance is that now Bahamians can go
without Visas and then the other people that meet all the pre-clearance
requirements can pre-clear U.S. Customs Border Patrol formalities here,
which means that when you get to Fort Lauderdale you can just get in
your car and go about your business," he said.
He added that the company would be using the facilities of SheltAir Aviation Services.
"The international facility makes it less of a hassle to go and come," Butler said.
SkyBahamas has a vested interest in the country Butler said and
will not be as quick to leave as other airlines may have been in the
past.
"You will be able to find a truly Bahamian airline that has a vested
interest in the growth of our country, so we can't just up and go like
some other airlines that just pack up and go," Butler said.
He said by expanding its services, SkyBahamas is attempting to solidify its base.
"We are also getting to our goal as being the regional airline of The
Bahamas and being truly an alternative to the other airlines like
BahamasAir that are serving domestically," Butler said,
He added that the company's aim is to give better and more
personalized service that clients may otherwise not receive on other
international airlines.
Butler said that if people have ideas that can help them to improve
their product the company is willing to hear what they have to
contribute.
"If hotels who hear about us and need this kind of service or anybody
else that would like to partner we are really open to that if they
believe they have information and data that will help us build this," he
said.
Bulter added that Sky Bahamas had initially hoped to begin the Fort
Lauderdale flights on April 1, but because the company had to secure the
necessary approvals from Customs the launch had to be pushed back to
April 15.
SOURCE