The Bahamas last week signed multiple aviation agreements in a bid to stimulate increased airlift that will drive economic and tourism growth.
Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, said in a statement that The Bahamas signed ten Air Services Agreements (ASAs) and seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with other countries at a major aviation conference held in Kenya.
He indicated that the MoUs signed with Turkey and the Netherlands were the most significant, with the former “designating Turkish Airlines to fly officially to The Bahamas”. The latter deal involves code-sharing, an arrangement where The Bahamas and the Netherlands will market and list each other’s flights in a reservation system under each other’s names.
Mr D’Aguilar, speaking to the outcome of ICAN 2018, a conference organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), said the agreements signed by The Bahamas were designed to eliminate the costs and bureaucracy faced by other nations in establishing air services to this nation.
“Attending this conference and signing these agreements is an efficient and cost-effective way to facilitate the commencement of air service to The Bahamas by airlines domiciled in the countries with whom the agreements were signed,” Mr D’Aguilar said.
“These air services agreements provide financial incentives and internationally-agreed rules and regulations which govern how a foreign carrier from a specific country can provide service to The Bahamas, either directly or via a code share arrangement.
“As a result, when a foreign carrier expresses an interest in commencing air service to The Bahamas, the regulatory regime is already in place and service can commence expeditiously without undue bureaucratic delays,” the minister continued.
“This would also make travel easier for Bahamians who are visiting, in greater numbers, destinations all over the world, and for the growing number of persons across the globe who wish to come to The Bahamas.”
Of the ten ASAs signed last week, the most useful are likely to be those with two European nations, Spain and Switzerland. The agreements with Jamaica and the Dominican Republic also hold out the prospect for improved Caribbean regional connectivity and travel.
The other six deals, though, are with countries unlikely to be viewed as major tourism source markets for The Bahamas. They are Kenya; Malaysia; Rwanda; Chile; Nigeria and the Seychelles.
As for the MoUs, they were signed with Germany; Greece; Morocco; Colombia; Saudi Arabia; and Ghana. All this activity, which took place in 24 meetings attended by the Bahamian delegation over the five-day conference from December 10-14, takes this nation’s total aviation ASAs and MoUs to 19 and 18, respectively.
Mr D’Aguilar indicated that ASAs were expected to be completed “in the near future” with countries that had signed MoUs with The Bahamas, as the Government seeks to drive tourism-related growth via aviation. The MoU upgradings to ASAs are expected to take place before end-2019.
Besides the agreements, The Bahamas also held meetings with the US, UK, South Korea and International Air Transport Association (IATA) during the ICAN conference. The US meeting will have been especially timely, given the Government’s efforts to develop a revenue-sharing arrangement so this nation can gain a share of the overflight fees paid by planes crossing Bahamian air space.
“Views were also exchanged on best practices, lessons learned and opportunities for technical assistance and co-operation,” Mr D’Aguilar said. Talks were also held with Guyana and Tanzania, leading them and The Bahamas to sign meeting minutes.
Mr D’Aguilar was accompanied by Sharon Brennen-Haylock, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ director-general; Captain Charles Beneby, the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority’s director-general; Juliea Braithwaite-Rolle, the Aviation Authority’s manager of safety oversight; and Shane Miller, assistant director of legal affairs in the Attorney General’s Office.
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