Cooper: COVID-19 vaccine rollout critical for Bahamasair’s recovery

Bahamasair Chief Executive Officer Tracy Cooper said the airline is depending on the broader rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to help the ailing airline return to pre-pandemic revenue levels.

Bahamasair saw an uptick in revenue during the December holiday period, however numbers quickly dipped again when the new year began.

With bookings only at 25 percent of what they were this time last year, Cooper said travel remains suppressed for the near future, but the rollout of vaccines is providing hope for easier travel in the coming months.

“Do we see where we’ll get back to any degree of normalcy or 2019 numbers? That’s going to be awhile. As you can tell, things are getting even more restrictive because COVID-19 is mutating into something that’s more easily spreadable. The good thing is all the vaccines and it seems as if there are multiple vaccines coming to the market. I believe Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and a few others are now on the market,” he said.

“The good thing about that is a lot of countries, especially the ones that The Bahamas and Bahamasair are dealing with, seem to be doing a good job with the vaccines.”

Bahamasair Chairman Tommy Turnquest attributed most of the airline’s increased revenue in December to increased regular flights to Cuba. However, Cuba’s government imposed more stringent travel restrictions starting on January 1, following an increase in COVID-19 cases in that country.

Then last week, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) imposed new travel protocols requiring all airline passengers entering the United States to provide a negative COVID-19 test.

Cooper said these changes were a hit to the airline, but he’s still hopeful.

“Revenue is picking up in steps. Where we were fully on the ground in 2020, coming toward the end of 2020 we saw some revenue drives coming in. We expect that will continue to grow and especially with the vaccine coming, there may be some easier requirements for flying and at the end of the day, the aviation industry will start to get back to some degree of normalcy. Unfortunately full recovery is not expected probably until 2022, the entire aviation industry,” he said.

The government has provided Bahamasair with approximately $37 million in support for operational expenses since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/cooper-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-critical-for-bahamasairs-recovery/