NASSAU – The government has finally given the go-ahead for aviation chiefs to charge airlines fees for using Bahamian airspace. The move – long championed by The Tribune – could earn millions of dollars in revenue every year, The Tribune reported on May 17 in an article written by Natario McKenzie.
In a long running campaign, The Tribune has repeatedly warned we should be like the vast majority of countries around the world who generate significant sums for their treasuries by charging overflight fees. Now, finally, the Minnis government has announced it is going to do just that.
The US Office of Inspector General stated in its December 2017 audit that the FAA has billed an astonishing $800 million in over-flight fees between 2006-2016. The FAA billed an estimated $106 million in over-flight fees in 2017, with an estimated $126 million to be billed this fiscal year. A significant portion of this revenue will involve flights which have used Bahamian airspace.
Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar stressed the over-flight fees we collect will only be used for the management and upgrade of the country’s air navigation system, telling this newspaper: “We’re not going to pay off the national debt with this”. His comments come after Government in a statement said this nation and the United States had resumed negotiations in Nassau this week regarding the management of the sovereign airspace of The Bahamas.
