Bahamasair

Infobox Airline
airline=Bahamasair

logo_size=300
company_slogan = We just don't fly there, we live there
IATA=UP
ICAO=BHS
callsign=Bahamas
parent=Bahamian Governmentcite book|last=Norwood|first=Tom|coauthors=Wegg, John|title=North American Airlines Handbook|publisher=Airways International|location=Sandpoint, ID|date=2002|edition=3rd|isbn=0-9653993-8-9|url=http://www.airwaysnews.com]
founded=1973
commenced=1973-06-07
key_people= Joe Beckett Head Engineer,(chief advisor)
headquarters=Nassau, Bahamas
hubs=Lynden Pindling International Airport
fleet_size=10
destinations=29| website= http://www.bahamasair.com

Bahamasair is an airline based in Nassau, Bahamas. It is the national airline and operates domestic scheduled services to 15 destinations and regional scheduled services to Havana and four cities in Florida. Its main base is Lynden Pindling International Airportcite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 84 | date= 2007-03-27] .

History

"Bahamasair" was born out of the oil crisis of the 1970s. In 1970, British Airways stopped flying to The Bahamas, and the Bahamian Government accurately predicted that some of the other major airlines flying to the country would follow British Airways' lead.{fact|date=May 2008 So Bahamasair was established by the government and started operations on 7 June 1973, by acquiring the operations of Flamingo Airlines and Out Island Airways. Bahamasair was met initially with a lot of problems, such as poor maintenance facilities, economic shape and company structure.

All that brought public distrust as a consequential added problem. But soon jets started to arrive in the shape of brand new Boeing 737s, and in 1972, it opened its first international service, from Nassau to Tampa, Florida. In 1973, the government's vision of many airlines leaving the island became a reality, when Pan Am and a few other major companies decided to walk the road out that had been opened by British Airways. With that, Bahamasair grabbed a substantial part of the Bahamas air market. Through the rest of the 1970s, Bahamasair kept adding flights to other cities in Florida and, domestically, the presence of the airline also grew at a large rate.

During the early 1980s, Bahamasair unsuccessfully tried to expand to the Northeast United States, opening flights to Philadelphia, Washington DC (Dulles) and Newark, New Jersey. But in 1989, the airline's directors decided that those routes were not profitable and cut them off the airline's route map. Also in 1989, the Boeing 727 first came into the fleet. They would acquire a total of two. That was also the year that a new livery and workers' uniform were introduced.

In 1991, De Havilland DHC-8 were purchase to substitute the whole jet fleet comprising 737-200s. In 1997, the Boeing 737's returned to service because key routes warranted the cargo and passenger carrying capabilities offered by the 737-200. The 737-200 is deployed to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando and 1 domestic destination, Freeport.

Destinations

Bahamasair operates the following services (as of April 2006) from its base at Nassau International Airport: Fact|date=April 2007
*Domestic scheduled services:
**Andros Town
**Arthur's Town
**Crooked Island
**Deadmans Cay
**Freeport (Grand Bahama International Airport)
**George Town
**Governors Harbour
**Inagua
**Mangrove Cay
**Marsh Harbour
**Mayaguana
**Nassau
**North Eleuthera
**Rock Sound
**San Andros
**San Salvador
**South Andros
**Spring Point
**The Bight
**Costa Rica

*International scheduled services:
**Cuba
***Havana (José Martí International Airport)
**Turks and Caicos Islands
***Providenciales (Providenciales Airport)
**United States
***Florida
****Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport)
****Miami (Miami Airport)
****Orlando (Orlando International Airport)
****West Palm Beach (Palm Beach Airport)

Livery

Its livery comprises white, ocean blue and sunshine yellow on the fuselage with the name Bahamasair written over the passenger windows in ocean blue, with an ocean blue tail that has the face of a white, green and yellow bird portrayed.

Fleet

The Bahamasair fleet includes the following aircraft (at July 2008):

*2 Boeing 737-200
*6 Bombardier Dash 8 Q300

References

* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=UP&al_op=1 CH-aviation database]