The Bahamas is seeing an airlift boom, with air service expanding in 2019 and set for more growth in 2020, according to the country’s tourism officials. 

The Bahamas is reporting an increase in airlift to three of its major destinations, making it easier for visitors to travel from cities across the United States and Canada. 

“There has been significant growth in air seat capacity to Nassau, North Eleuthera and Exuma, major Bahamas markets, from the following hubs: Charlotte, Atlanta, Toronto, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Newark,” said Tyrone Sawyer,  the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism’s Senior Director of Airlift Development. “These are some of the key hubs undergirding airlift to The Islands Of The Bahamas and this increase in airlift to The Bahamas is well positioned to drive the country’s tourism growth.”

Sawyer also pointed to the new and increased flights that will affect upcoming winter travel.

“There is a high volume of nonstop flights from key tourist markets in close proximity to The Bahamas. This proximity advantage gives The Bahamas the unique ability to attract high income visitors, with the desire to achieve a foreign, accessible, authentic vacation experience, at competitive prices,” Sawyer said. 

“The Bahamas has and will benefit from increases in nonstop air seat capacity from core tourist markets like New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Boston, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, and Chicago,” he said.

He shared that some of the upcoming increases in airlift include: a second daily JetBlue flight from Boston to Nassau in March and April 2020; a new nonstop United Airlines flight from Denver to Nassau; a Silver Airways flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Bimini and a second weekly Air Canada flight from Montreal to Nassau.

It’s part of what has been a strong comeback for the destination in the wake of Hurricane Dorian in the fall — and continues what had been surging pre-storm arrival numbers across the 700-island archipelago. 

“Over the past two years, we have seen improved load factor performance by most of our airline partners serving The Islands Of The Bahamas from origin destination markets,” said Bahamas Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.

“This increase in consumer demand, driven by vigorous promotional efforts in the marketplace by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and our Industry partners, has given our airline partners renewed confidence to increase air seat capacity from key markets to set the stage for further growth,” D’Aguliar said.

— CJ