Bahamasair made its inaugural flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 14 January, 2017, touching down at Toussaint Louverture International Airport.

The Avions de Transport Régional-42 (ATR), 50 seat, turbo, prop aircraft (pictured), one of the national flag carrier’s newest fleet acquired in 2015, will provide a non-stop service between Nassau and Port-au-Prince two days per week, Wednesday and Saturday.

Bahamasair chairman Valentine Grimes, head of the delegation to Haiti, remarked that this is an “important” day in the history of Bahamasair.

“We are indeed happy that this flight has been inaugurated and we are here for the long haul. We think that the flights will be profitable both for Haiti and The Bahamas,” he said.

Bahamasair acting managing director, Tracy Cooper, said: “We’re very excited about the move. It is the only direct flight between The Bahamas and Port-au-Prince. We expect it to be not just beneficial to The Bahamas, but also to the people of Haiti.”

“We expect to grow this flight from an ATR eventually to a jet,” said Woody Wilson, Bahamasair senior manager for marketing. “There is a lot of culture in Haiti and we have Bahamians travelling back and forth as tourists and vice versa. We expect to have the Haitian population travelling to The Bahamas as tourists. We expect this to be a great revenue generator for us.”