The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian tourism and aviation industries are set for a further boost through this nation formalising its long-standing relationship with the US, a senior regulator revealed yesterday.

Juliea Brathwaite-Rolle, head of the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority’s safety oversight department, confirmed to Tribune Business that this nation had last week signed an air services agreement with its northern neighbour as it continues to expand the industry’s growth platform.

The signing, which took place at the 12th ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event in Jordan, is the 24th such agreement that The Bahamas has entered into in a bid to unlock route and partnership opportunities with foreign carriers for local airlines.

Emphasising that the US agreement was not of the “open skies” variety, Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle said The Bahamas was already seeing signs that some of its previous air services agreements are starting to pay off.

Besides Turkey “looking at starting something here”, she added that Qatar was exploring whether The Bahamas could become a cargo hub for its efforts to ship goods into South America from the Middle East and eyeing a “code sharing” agreement with Jet Blue.

“The US and ourselves always had an understanding, but now we have an air services agreement,” Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle explained. “It facilitates what we were doing before, with Bahamian airlines being able to operate over there and their airlines being able to operate here.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that the US had pushed for an “open skies” agreement with The Bahamas at last year’s ICAN conference, but Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle said this was not what had been signed - despite some press reports suggesting otherwise.

She explained that the air services agreement, which still has to go through internal approvals within the US government, still secures market access for Bahamas-owned and based airlines. It also does not permit “cabotage”, which would have given US airlines the right to operate domestic flights in this nation - something that is off-limits as far as local players are concerned.

“It’s a state-to-state agreement through a programme that ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organisation) has put in place so you’re able to generate economic opportunities, aviation opportunities, for each country,” Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle told Tribune Business.

“Any airline registered in The Bahamas, and vice versa, has the opportunity to operate in the other’s country based on ICAO principles and enter into code share agreements. It provides income and growth opportunities for carriers here to be able to partner with other companies in that manner.”

Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle said The Bahamas has now signed 24 air services agreements with nations such as China, Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, the UK, Canada and even Turkey and Qatar. The latter two had to-date been the most active in exploring the possibilities, and she added: “Services are coming to The Bahamas and we’re benefiting from it.....

“It’s about market access and trying to build your market. The Asian and Middle East states are capitalising on this because it’s airport fees, ground maintenance, services at the hotel. Tourism is our number one industry, and we have the opportunity for more tourist airlift.

“We have more opportunity for employment, persons to be stationed at different locations, local carriers to be able to build their business and bring more airlift into other parts of The Bahamas. I would tell you the air services agreements, the benefits outweigh everything,” Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle continued.

“It’s an opportunity for more growth. When you have Qatar, that is number one for cargo, needing to ship cargo into South America and looking at The Bahamas as a hub, that’s awesome. An air services agreement provides for that.”

Mrs Brathwaite-Rolle said Western Air, the Bahamian carrier, was also looking to exploit the air services agreements in place with Jamaica and the Dominican Republic to begin services into those markets.