Bahamasair set to expand fleet, eyes cost cuts and Latin America market

The national air carrier of the Bahamas, Bahamasair, has unveiled its plan of adding new jets to its fleet, which the airline said is expected to reduce operational costs by 13 to 15 percent. The airline’s Managing Director Tracy Cooper said that the final decision will be announced later this year. 

The development was announced by Cooper as he was speaking during a session at the 2025 Routes Americas Conference at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort on Monday. While he did not indicate how many jets the air carrier was looking to acquire but said that they would most likely be leased. 

He further added that the airline was considering the Airbus A220 and currently the fleet comprises of 6 ATRs with one recently acquired as well as four 737 jets.  

The Managing Director noted that Bahamasair currently serves across 21 destinations, 13 within the Bahamas, four in the Caribbean as well as four in the US including Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando and West Palm Beach.  

Furthermore, he emphasised the significance of Florida as a significant hub saying that through interlining with other major carriers, Bahamasair can bring a number of visitors from Florida gateways to the Bahamas.  

“The United States is pivotal, particularly the Florida market. Those are major routes for the airline,” he outlined. 

Tracy Cooper further highlighted the record achievement of more than 11 million visitors to the island nation in 2024 and added that a lot of these were cruise passengers, but airlift plays a huge role in getting people here as well.  

He said that the airlines locally saw a boost and even though the cruise sector takes a large part of that but more than 1.7 million were still stopover tourists.  

Cooper further added that Bahamasair has faced supply chain issues with ATR engine manufacturer which has caused delays for repairs, extending from the usual 60-day period to 150 days. He said that this pushed the airline to acquire another ATR this last week because they see the demand for travel between the islands increasing.  

Talking about the company’s new plans about acquiring new planes, Cooper said that this will help them to expand their operation into Latin America which has a much larger population base than North America. This is why he said that the expansion is necessary with the company.