The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas was yesterday praised for standing “head and shoulders above any country in its vision and strategy” for private aviation with the market having “settled down” following earlier fears over changed border entry protocols.

Rick Gardner, director of CST Flight Services, which provides flight co-ordination and trip support services to the private aviation industry throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, told Tribune Business that with the Click2Clear concerns resolved back in May this nation’s private pilot and passenger visitor numbers were “definitely up over last year, and last year was up over 2019”.

A member of The Bahamas Civil Aviation Council as well as a Bahamas Flying Ambassador, who attended the recent four-day private aviation meeting in Grand Bahama, he also disclosed that he was surprised to see multiple private planes at the island’s fixed base operator (FBO) despite the airport’s post-Dorian condition being less than acceptable.

“The Bahamas is head and shoulders above any country in terms of vision and strategy,” Mr Gardner told this newspaper of the country’s private aviation standing. “It’s a very attractive, very lucrative market. I haven’t seen the official numbers as they’d come from Customs but I’d say it’s definitely up, this year over last year, and last year was up over 2019.

“I can tell you that I have seen a lot of activity. There are a lot of customers moving around. Unfortunately you did have some customers move to other destinations around the time of Click2Clear. It caused a lot of noise and disruption but it has settled down. I’m just aware we have had a number of flights, quite a few, make it to The Bahamas.

“I was asked by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make a presentation to their safety team. They had a webinar two weekends ago on flying to The Bahamas. It’s definitely on the radar for many pilots if I have to do a webinar for them.”

Bahamas Customs aborted efforts to implement a new border control process for private aviation via its Click2Clear system back in May after major concerns were voiced by the industry that it would be ensnared in bureaucracy and red tape through declarations and forms that were taking two to three hours to complete online.

However, the effort has not been abandoned, and the Click2Clear plan was discussed at the four-day Grand Bahama meeting which concluded on Sunday. The Ministry of Tourism, in a statement on the outcome, said it was working to “gauge feedback on the Click2Clear digital platform and ensure a seamless and user-friendly programme is implemented.

“Testing of the programme is currently underway in order to minimise the time it takes to process declarations required to enter the country,” it added. To clear Customs upon entry to The Bahamas, private pilots presently have to file their flight plan and complete a C7A inward declaration form. The information required includes the plane owner and pilot’s names, the aircraft registration number, the identities of any passengers, and details on where the plans is coming from and on its departure.

A $50 Customs arrival fee is also payable. A general declaration form must also be completed on departure, together with the $29 per person departure tax. However, Customs wants to digitise these long-standing manual processes by requiring that they now be completed via its Click2Clear electronic portal.

The goal will also likely be to collect all revenue due to the Government from the private aviation industry and its customers, and ensure that all the necessary electronic records to document this and their arrival are in place. A ‘flyer’ from Bahamas Customs & Excise’s information technology (IT) unit, sent to the sector and obtained by Tribune Business, said the reforms would boost convenience and efficiency for all as pilots can submit payment and the forms before they land.

Mr Gardner, meanwhile, said he was “surprised” by the level of private aviation activity he encountered at Grand Bahama International Airport and its FBO despite “the shape it is in” post-Dorian. With private aviation at a slow point in its annual calendar, he added that the counted “five rows 60 yards long” at the FBO ramp.