[ad_1]
The Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar has announced that the country will receive B$2 million by the end of September as part of its airspace management agreement.
The Bahamas, for the first time in its history, has assumed management of its sovereign airspace after it signed a 10-year air navigation services agreement with the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which could be extended for an additional 36 months.
The move is expected to yield B$300-350 million over the period.
Under the new agreement, as of May 2021, aircraft landing in and departing out of the sovereign airspace of The Bahamas, aircraft flying solely within the airspace of The Bahamas and aircraft flying over the sovereign airspace of The Bahamas will start paying fees to the newly established Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority, an entity solely owned and operated by the Bahamian Government.
D’Aguilar said, “We had to set up all the bank accounts, establish all of the protocols from which that money will be transferred from IATA (the International Air Transport Association) to the Bank of The Bahamas, where the company has been set up to receive the funds.”
He indicated that fees for aircraft landing and taking off in Bahamian airspace will range from B$1 per arriving and departing passenger and a fee of B$10 up to B$61 dollars, depending on the take-off weight.
The Bahamas will still be responsible for a B$80,000 annual fee to be paid to the FAA for the provision of data to charge airspace users.
The minister noted also that all fees collected cannot be deposited to consolidated funds but must be directed to the development of the country’s aviation sector.
[ad_2]
Source link
