The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A leading Bahamian airline executive yesterday praised the Government’s bid to slash airspace overflight fees for locally-registered aircraft, saying this cost his carrier and others around $100,000-plus per year in fees paid to the US.

Sky Bahamas’ chief executive, Captain Randy Butler, also backed the wider move to engage the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over management of the country’s airspace, adding that it could generate much-needed revenue for the Government.

Ministry of Transport and Aviation officials, along with their counterparts from the FAA, held ‘face-to-face’ meetings for the first time this week to discuss aviation issues, including airspace management. The FAA controls overflight rights for the Bahamas above a certain altitude.

Captain Butler said most carriers currently pay $100,000 a year for Bahamian air space use. Commenting on the high level discussions between the Government and the FAA, he said: “It’s about time. I praise the minister of aviation for demonstrating the political will.

“It means that Bahamian-owned, operated and registered airlines may no longer have to pay the US to fly in our own air space. It helps all of us. Most of us are paying $100,000-plus a year for that.”

Captain Butler added: “The Bahamas stands to get much-needed revenue from it. This will boost the aviation industry, create technical jobs and the Government won’t have to tax the industry so much.

“This will also help with the funding of Family Island airports. That is something that would certainly be good for our tourism product,. We must not forget to put in place the the proper regulations and laws to support this effort.”

The move to manage the country’s airs pace was raised during the former Christie administration’s 2002-2007 tenure. A 2004 paper on the creation of the Bahamas Flight Information Region (FIR) said the Civil Aviation Department had proposed to install a new Nassau Area Control Centre (NACC) and associated air navigation systems in the Bahamas to permit it to retake control of its airspace, in a fully coordinated manner with neighbouring countries.

It was expected that the FIR’s implementation would take two to three years, once it was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The FAA exercises control over most of the Bahamian airspace designated as the Miami Oceanic (East), with the airspace over Andros presently under the control of Cuba.

According to the 2004 working paper, the new FIR could create significant employment opportunities and generate revenues in excess of $30 million annually for the Bahamas.

It added that the revenue stream was expected to not only finance the capital costs of implementing the project and pay for the yearly operations and maintenance budget of Civil Aviation, but also contribute to financing the development of Family Island aerodromes.