The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

WESTERN Air’s chief executive, Rex Rolle, said yesterday that $4.6 million had been invested in the airline’s new terminal and maintenance facility on Grand Bahama, telling Tribune Business it would cut the firm’s costs by just over $250,000 a year.

The airline’s headquarters and main maintenance is currently based in San Andros, but Mr Rolle said the airline had found itself paying $60,000 a year to charter flights to bring in part.

“The facility is finished. We had our IT people, our maintenance director and everyone evaluating what we need as it relates to communication and computers to get everything in place for the transition to Freeport. The end cost of the facility is about $4.6 million,”said Mr Rolle.

“We estimate that we are going to cut about $280,000 a year in costs. That’s due to the fact that we will have less ferry flights into Andros when an aircraft needs to be repaired.

“We won’t have to ferry and aircraft, but we will be able to take it up to Freeport on a revenue flight and our mechanics will be able to do scheduled and unscheduled maintenance at night.

“It’s going to be significant cost savings in that regard. We spend about $60,000 a year to charter flights just to obtain parts to South Andros, because there is no scheduled flight here. We won’t have to charter a plane for $1,200 and $1,800.”

 Commenting on the Nassau Airport Development Company’s (NAD) recent notice on fee increases, Mr Rolle added: “These fees are passed through our hand and right on to NAD. The airlines might say that they are going to lose, but they’re not really going to lose because these fees are going to be passed on to the customers and that’s the sad thing.  What people have to pay for the ticket will increase. Our airfare will not increase but the tax part to the airport will.”

NAD has announced that effective January 2013, landing fees, terminal fees, aircraft loading bridge fees and aircraft parking fees would increase by 3 per cent respectively.

NAD has projected that its fee increases for 2012 and 2013 will still leave Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) in a competitive cost position against its regional counterparts, with total airport-related fees 1.5 per cent below the Caribbean average.