Bahamasair is eyeing an order for brand new jets that would develop its fleet and broaden nonstop flight alternatives to the island nation.
“The primary plane that we’re is the Airbus [A]220,” Tracy Cooper, CEO of Bahamasair, mentioned on the Routes Americas convention in Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday.
The airline is contemplating an order for eight to 10 planes that might exchange its 4 growing old Boeing 737-700s — the plane vary in age from 18 to 21 years outdated, data from FlightRadar24 reveals — and develop its fleet.
An order, Cooper continued, might be unveiled this yr relying on the provision of capital for the brand new planes.
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The A220 “offers us alternatives to do issues that we’re not doing presently — that airplane can fly simply to the complete [breadth] of the U.S. and get us effectively into Latin America,” Cooper mentioned.
In line with Airbus, the A220-300 can fly round 3,900 miles with a regular two-class structure of 120 to 150 seats. That is additional than Bahamasair’s present 737s and the vary of the A220’s most important competitor, the Embraer E195-E2, which might fly round 3,000 miles with a regular single-class structure of simply 132 seats.
Bahamasair’s 737-700s all have greater than 140 seats. The airline additionally has a fleet of 5 ATR turboprops that it makes use of primarily for home flights within the Bahamas.
Schedule knowledge from aviation analytics agency Cirium reveals that the service serves 4 U.S. airports: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Worldwide Airport (FLL), Miami Worldwide Airport (MIA), Orlando Worldwide Airport (MCO) and Palm Seaside Worldwide Airport (PBI) in West Palm Seaside, Florida. It additionally flies to Cap-Haitien, Haiti; Havana; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Providenciales within the Turks and Caicos islands.
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The A220 is a well-liked plane with airways and passengers alike. Developed by Bombardier within the 2010s earlier than being purchased by Airbus, the jet has half as many center seats as its bigger rivals, the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737, because of its 2-3 configuration in financial system. It additionally advantages from the newest in engine expertise, making it extra fuel-efficient than older fashions and, as Cooper talked about, have a spread able to transcontinental flights in North America.
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North American A220 operators embody Air Canada, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Strains, and JetBlue.
Bahamasair has its sights set first on Latin America with its subsequent plane. The A220s would allow nonstop flights from Nassau’s Lynden Pindling Worldwide Airport (NAS) to airports in Colombia, Mexico and Panama — in different phrases, Latin American hubs — Cooper mentioned. From there, Bahamasair would search to associate with main Latin airways to feed individuals onto its flights.
“The intent is basically to get [visitors] onto Bahamasair and into beds within the inns right here within the Bahamas,” he mentioned.
Bahamasair is owned by the Bahamian authorities.
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