The Bahamas Is Getting a New Daily Fort Lauderdale-Nassau Flight From Tradewind

The Bahamas is getting a new daily connection as Tradewind Aviation launches Fort Lauderdale-Nassau service on Dec. 10, part of a 30 percent increase in the airline’s Bahamas flights beginning in mid-December.

Tradewind Aviation is adding a new daily flight between Fort Lauderdale and Nassau, giving South Florida another nonstop option to the Bahamian capital beginning Dec. 10. The new route comes as Tradewind prepares to increase its overall Bahamas flight schedule by 30 percent beginning in mid-December.

The flight will connect Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with Lynden Pindling International Airport, expanding an increasingly substantial Tradewind network between South Florida and The Bahamas. Tradewind is already taking reservations for the new Nassau service, with its Bahamas schedule currently available through June 1 of next year.

It’s a short flight, too: Tradewind lists the approximate Fort Lauderdale-Nassau flying time at 48 minutes. The route will operate once daily, seven days a week, aboard the airline’s eight-passenger Pilatus PC-12 aircraft.

The significance is bigger than another line on the route map. Tradewind has been steadily building a different kind of air network between Florida and The Bahamas, pairing scheduled service with the private-terminal experience more commonly associated with charter flying.

That model already connects Fort Lauderdale with Marsh Harbour in Abaco and North Eleuthera, the principal gateway to Harbour Island. Adding Nassau means all three of Tradewind’s primary Bahamas destinations will be reachable from Fort Lauderdale on scheduled flights every day of the week.

It also gives Nassau something Tradewind’s existing Florida network did not have: a scheduled Fort Lauderdale flight. The airline launched its Nassau service from Stuart in December, establishing the capital as the third destination in its growing Bahamas operation.

The Fort Lauderdale addition brings the model to a much larger South Florida gateway. It also creates a new option for reaching the country’s biggest resort destination without the conventional commercial-airport experience.

Tradewind’s scheduled flights depart from private FBO terminals, and you can arrive about one hour before departure. 

In Fort Lauderdale, Tradewind operates from the Sheltair private terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. In Nassau, flights use a private aviation terminal at Lynden Pindling International Airport.

The aircraft is part of the story. Tradewind operates the Bahamas routes with Swiss-built Pilatus PC-12 turboprops, each flown by two pilots and configured with an air-conditioned, pressurized passenger cabin.

The scheduled aircraft carry eight passengers, making the experience markedly smaller than a conventional commercial flight while still allowing you to reserve an individual seat rather than charter the entire plane. Complimentary snacks and refreshments, including wine and beer, are offered onboard.

Tradewind has been expanding this private-terminal model across South Florida and The Bahamas, and Fort Lauderdale has become increasingly important to the carrier’s strategy. The airline already operates daily service from the airport to Marsh Harbour and North Eleuthera.

Marsh Harbour currently gets as many as three Tradewind flights per day from Fort Lauderdale. North Eleuthera gets as many as two daily flights, while the new Nassau route will add one daily departure.

That means Tradewind’s Fort Lauderdale network will cover three very different Bahamas trips. Nassau is the gateway to the country’s largest concentration of resorts, Marsh Harbour opens up Abaco and its surrounding cays, and North Eleuthera is the principal air gateway for Harbour Island.

The Nassau addition may be the most broadly useful of the three. Nassau and neighboring Paradise Island have the country’s deepest hotel inventory, along with major resorts including Atlantis Paradise Island, Baha Mar and The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort.

Tradewind already has a relationship with Atlantis built around its existing Stuart-Nassau flights. The airline and Atlantis introduced a hotel-and-flight package that pairs qualifying stays at the Paradise Island resort with Tradewind’s scheduled service.

That relationship illustrates where the airline’s Bahamas strategy is headed. Tradewind isn’t trying to reproduce the experience of a large commercial carrier on a smaller airplane; it is selling individual seats within an experience designed to feel closer to private aviation.

[TK: sourced Tradewind quote on the Fort Lauderdale-Nassau launch, under 15 words.]

The new route also fills in the geography of Tradewind’s Florida operation. The airline currently flies between Stuart and Nassau as well, with that service operating Thursday through Monday year-round.

From Stuart, Tradewind also serves Marsh Harbour up to three times daily and North Eleuthera up to twice daily from Thursday through Monday. Fort Lauderdale, by contrast, will have daily service to all three destinations once Nassau flights begin.

That seven-day schedule can be important on a Bahamas trip, particularly when a long weekend or a resort stay doesn’t line up neatly with a limited flight calendar. A daily flight gives passengers more freedom to build a trip around the hotel stay rather than around the days an airline happens to operate.

There is also the simple proximity of the two destinations. Tradewind estimates the Fort Lauderdale-Nassau trip at 48 minutes aboard the Pilatus PC-12, putting the Bahamian capital less than an hour away in scheduled flying time.

The private-terminal model changes the calculation further. Tradewind recommends arriving one hour before departure, which can make the total journey unusually compact for an international trip.

That is especially relevant for South Florida residents considering a short Bahamas escape. Nassau can work as a two- or three-night trip, and the ability to depart from Fort Lauderdale rather than drive north to Stuart broadens the audience for Tradewind’s version of the journey.

It is also useful for passengers arriving in South Florida from elsewhere. Fort Lauderdale is one of the region’s major aviation gateways, creating more possibilities for building a Nassau vacation around a flight into South Florida.

Tradewind’s ticket rules add another element to the product. The airline says scheduled-service tickets are interchangeable among family members and friends, and cancellations made outside 48 hours do not carry a penalty.

The carrier’s Bahamas expansion has happened quickly. Tradewind initially built its Florida scheduled network around service to Marsh Harbour and North Eleuthera before adding Nassau from Stuart and expanding its Fort Lauderdale presence.

Now the route map has taken on a more complete shape. Fort Lauderdale will connect directly with Nassau, North Eleuthera and Marsh Harbour, while Stuart will continue serving the same three destinations on its own schedule.

The 30 percent increase in Bahamas flights beginning in mid-December suggests Tradewind sees room for considerably more premium air capacity across the islands. It comes at the beginning of the winter travel period, when demand traditionally rises across The Bahamas and South Florida.

There is a distinction worth making about the product. These are scheduled flights sold by the seat aboard small aircraft, rather than a private charter in which one party reserves the entire airplane.

Tradewind also offers full private charter service, but the scheduled network is designed to put some of the advantages of private aviation into an individually reservable ticket. The result occupies a relatively uncommon space between traditional airline service and chartering an aircraft.

Which Tradewind Bahamas Flight Is Right for You?

The destination determines the flight. Nassau is the choice if the trip centers on Paradise Island, Cable Beach, downtown Nassau or the resorts of New Providence, and the new Fort Lauderdale route makes that trip possible every day of the week.

North Eleuthera is the flight for a stay on Harbour Island or the northern reaches of Eleuthera. From the airport, Harbour Island is reached by a short ground transfer and boat ride across the channel.

Marsh Harbour is the choice for Abaco, whether the final destination is Great Abaco itself or one of the surrounding cays. It is a major jumping-off point for places including Elbow Cay, Great Guana Cay, Man-O-War Cay and Green Turtle Cay.

Nassau, however, is the route with the widest appeal, simply because of the breadth of what lies on the other side. It works for everything from a weekend at Atlantis to a longer resort stay, a business trip or a connection elsewhere in The Bahamas.

The new service also makes Fort Lauderdale a more complete Tradewind gateway. Instead of choosing the airport primarily for flights to the Out Islands, passengers will be able to use it for the capital as well.

Reservations are already open, and Tradewind’s published Bahamas schedule is available through June 1. The Fort Lauderdale-Nassau flight begins Dec. 10, with the airline’s broader 30 percent Bahamas expansion following in mid-December.

It is another indication of how quickly premium scheduled air service is growing between South Florida and The Bahamas. And with Nassau now joining Abaco and North Eleuthera on Tradewind’s daily Fort Lauderdale map, a 48-minute flight is about to open up a new way to start a Bahamas trip.