The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A ‘low cost’ US airline will bring almost 55,000 seats into the Nassau market annually once it launches service by July 1, its officers yesterday describing this nation as “the jewel in the Caribbean”.

Southwest Airlines, which inherited its New Providence routes via the 2011 acquisition of rival carrier, Air Tran, is making Nassau and three other Caribbean territories the first international destinations it will serve under its own brand.

Southwest officials, in an interview with Tribune Business yesterday, confirmed that the carrier will launch round-trip, daily service seven days per week to Nassau from its Baltimore/Washington hub on July 1.

And a weekly, round-trip Saturday service only will be unveiled from Atlanta to Nassau on August 10. Both routes will offer 143 seats on Boeing 737 jets.

Based on Tribune Business calculations, the two combined routes will bring 4,576 airlift seats into New Providence per month, and some 54,912 annually.

Southwest spokesperson, Whitney Eichinger, told this newspaper that load factor bookings for the new Nassau services were “on trend for new markets”.

Explaining that load factors typically averaged around 80 per cent for new destinations, Ms Eichinger said of the carrier’s Bahamian routes: “The flights so far are looking very, very full. They’re really high right now.

“I think they’ll follow the travel pattern for the Bahamas in an out of season. We know that over time that’ll continue to go up over time.”

Southwest’s interest in the Nassau market could not be better timed from a tourism perspective, given the Bahamas’s overall goal of increasing annual airlift into New Providence by 400,000 seats to meet the anticipated demand from Baha Mar.

And Southwest’s market position as a ‘low cost’ carrier will also likely aid the hotel/tourism industry’s goal of reducing access (air fare) costs to the Bahamas’ products.

“I think it’s definitely the jewel of the Caribbean,” Ms Eichinger told Tribune Business of Nassau as a destination. “It’s such a very popular destination from the US for vacationing”.

She added that Southwest was effectively “blending into a high level opportunity”, with Baha Mar and other resort developments presenting “opportunity to add additional service” once the demand was proven.

Ms Eichinger told Tribune Business that Southwest was focused solely on growing its Nassau service, although service to other Bahamian destinations in the future has not been ruled out.

“Initially, we’re looking at Nassau,” she explained.”We want to see what the demand is there for that.

“We intend to look to grow the business in Nassau first, and learn everything we can about the opportunity there. It’s an opportunity for Nassau to show Southwest there is a high demand for the service, and demonstrate that an opportunity for more service is there.”

Ms Eichinger said “the key differentiator” between Southwest and other carriers was that it did not levy fees on passengers who changed flights, and allowed two bags to go on board free of charge.

The latter feature is likely to be attractive to Bahamians heading abroad on expansive, and expensive, shopping trips.

Despite the frequent concerns expressed by multiple carriers every time there has been an increase, Ms Eichinger described Lynden Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) various fees as “really competitive”.

She added that Southwest had worked closely with Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), the LPIA operator, to “make sure the costs are in the right place” to facilitate its low-fare business strategy.

“If the costs are not in the right place, the business model falls apart,” Ms Eichinger told Tribune Business.

While demand and “popularity” also influenced Southwest’s decision to include Nassau among its first international routes, the carrier’s spokesperson said the Bahamas’s $409.5 million investment to upgrade LPIA provided attractive evidence of this nation’s commitment to securing airlift.

Southwest is aiming to build on the 96 domestic US destination that it serves via its international expansion to the Caribbean, which includes Aruba and Montego Bay. The services to this region will also complement Air Tran’s routes to Mexico from the US west coast.

Shonalee Johnson, NAD’s spokesperson, told Tribune Business that Southwest’s impending service launch marked the first new carrier to enter the Nassau market since Copa Airlines.

“I think it’s a huge deal,” she said, “because of the reach and the importance of being one of the first international destinations they fly to. We’re excited about the potential. It’s another point of contact for us.”

Ms Johnson said NAD was continuing to work with the Ministry of Tourism and Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board to generate the airlift necessary to meet the anticipated demand created by Baha Mar.

She added that the Bahamas was already “starting to see” the benefits from the $409.5 million LPIA investment, with NAD receiving awards and “high marks” in comparison to its Caribbean peers.

“We’ve made the investment, and when you look at the fees and compare regionally what we’re offering at the airport, we’re very competitive,” Ms Johnson said.