The Bahamas continues to dominate its competitors in the Caribbean as the number one private jet destination in the Caribbean.
A new report from XOJET, a leading private aviation services company, states that ultra-luxe travelers prefer The Bahamas more than any other destination.
Second to The Bahamas is St. Maarten followed by the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Others countries that made XOJET’s list are Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Antigua, the Cayman Islands, Barbados and the Grenadines.
The list follows another recognition made earlier in the year.
According to figures supplied by PrivateFly from WINGX, there were 12,566 charter flights to the 10 busiest Caribbean airports alone from November 2013 to April 2014 – the high season for travel.
Based on data from Prince and Associates showing that private jets bring an average of $69,000 in spending to the destinations they visit (excluding fuel and landing fees), private jet travelers brought some $867 million in spending to the destinations where the top 10 airports were located.
Officials say the top destination was Nassau, which brought in over $278 million from private airliners alone.
Chief Pilots and Aviation Specialist in the Ministry of Tourism Greg Rolle says The Bahamas continues to lead in private aviation because of its Fixed Based Operations (FBO), which continue to be competitive.
“The Bahamas Aviation Department has been working with Florida FBOs for many years and has recently launched The Bahamas Gateway FBOs with the several operations strategically located throughout South Florida to partner with them in making it increasingly easier for private pilots to get travel procedural information to fly and from the various Bahama Islands,” he said.
“The Bahamas has a very aggressive program called The Bahamas Flying Ambassador program, where seasoned US based private pilots who volunteer their time giving seminars to flying groups at aviation events making themselves available to share their knowledge to private pilots wanting to fly their aircraft to and from the Islands of The Bahamas, educating them specifically on the ease of flying across the Gulf Stream.”
Over the years, The Bahamas Flying Ambassador program has expanded to include experienced pilots in a variety of areas (including Light Sports Aircraft), allowing for new ideas, support, reach and energy, which each ambassador brings to the table.
FBOs in The Bahamas include Odyssey Aviation and Executive Flight Support in Nassau Cherokee Aviation in Abaco and White Crown Aviation in Eleuthera.