Bahamasair and Air Caraïbes aircraft in flight.
NASSAU, Bahamas--France just got a little closer to the islands of the Bahamas, thanks to an interline agreement signed between Bahamasair and Air Caraïbes.
The agreement was signed after painstaking negotiations, according to Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Area Manager for France, Karin Mallet Gautier, who recently brought nine tour operators on a familiarisation trip to the Bahamas.
“Air Caraïbes took over the route from Paris to San Salvador that Club Med was operating as a charter. In November 2016, Air Caraïbes began servicing the Paris-San Salvador route with regularly scheduled flights, and since that time we have been encouraging Air Caraïbes to operate a direct flight to Nassau,” she said.
“So we met with Air Caraïbes and Bahamasair and now French passengers can book on Air Caraïbes for Paris to San Salvador, but also it will allow Bahamians to travel to Paris.”
The flights will be offered every Thursday. Once passengers arrive in San Salvador, they are able to travel to Nassau via Bahamasair and to any other islands of the Bahamas.
Gautier says the response has been tremendous.
“The French market is increasing year after year. We are expanding with our digital campaign. France is the first market in continental Europe after the UK and we are growing month after month, so we are now in need of more direct options to reach the islands of the Bahamas because we were only using British Airways, which we will continue to use. The need for a Paris-to-Nassau option was very strong,” she said.
Air Director of Commercial Flights of the Caribbean François Bonnet said the demand for the Bahamas is high.
Since its initial agreement, Air Caraïbes has brought over 15,000 French passengers to the archipelago.
“We now have demand from the French tour operators and the European tour operators. We are now waiting for more passengers. The hotel industry here is good and the hotels’ standards are very high quality. The quality of service is high. The French really enjoy the Bahamas for diving and parasailing and that’s why we are expecting more and more passengers on our planes,” Bonnet said. ~ Caribbean360 ~
