The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

An airline is aiming to expand commuter flights to Cat Island and Eleuthera by year-end as it seeks to ramp-up service to more Family Islands.

Sarah Swainson, Makers Air’s director of new business, told Tribune Business the carrier wants to fill a void created by the lack of air access to some of the less-populated Family Islands.

She said: “There has been a lot of discussion about the domestic carriers, and it is not just with South Andros. We also have experienced that with Cat Island as well. For Cat Island we fly four times a week, but for Long Island we don’t. But if the domestic inter-island carriers aren’t showing up well, we are.”

Air access has been a consistent problem for resorts and other tourism operations in remoter Family Islands. The lack of direct airlift often forces visitors to overnight in Nassau before heading on to their Family Island destination. Makers Air flies direct, and will continue to keep areas such as South Andros on their list because it is in “high demand”.

Ms Swainson said: “Our Family Island routes are proving very effective, and it’s almost a preferred way to bypass Nassau altogether, because even when you do have the domestic airlift available the transfer is hardly ever convenient so we’ve been actively filling these roles.

“We’ve been a huge part of the Promotion Board, and we’ve listened to the stakeholders and been putting plans in place to give more options.” Makers Air is a connector from Fort Lauderdale to select Family Islands, and “specifically for Congo Town” in South Andros

Ms Swainson said: “We know and understand the importance of island connectivity, not only for freight but for passengers as well. We go into Staniel Cay sometimes six times a day. We’re flying up to 54 scheduled flight services passengers a day, whether they stop in Staniel Cay or they travel on to another Family Island.

“South Andros has definitely become one of our biggest ports and that’s a standalone flight for us for a lot of situations, meaning we don’t have to backstop in Staniel Cay, which means that it is possible for us to go directly from Fort Lauderdale to Congo Town and back.”

With services to Cat Island and Eleuthera now in the works, Mr Swainson added: “We will be changing our service to commuter flight services so we can go to these islands more than four times a week.”