The Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority (BANSA) has begun charging retroactive fees for the three-year period between May 2021 and July 2024, increasing origin/destination (O&D) charges that will particularly impact local carriers, according to the Bahamian newspaper The Tribune.

As ch-aviation previously reported, BANSA has been trying for years to increase its O&D fees while reducing overflight fees. The latter are mostly paid by international carriers and have been a point of contention between The Bahamas and lobby groups such as Airlines 4 America. BANSA has faced opposition from domestic carriers on the O&D fee hike, with the airlines arguing that the rise could put them out of business.

Western Air Bahamas (WU, Nassau International) told The Tribune that on March 6 it received an invoice from BANSA for over BSD2.4 million Bahamian dollars (the same in USD) for the period between 2021 and 2024. These charges “have never previously been billed or communicated to us,” said chief executive Shandrice Rolle. She warned of anti-competitive and “unfair trade practices” if state-owned Bahamasair is granted a fee exemption, as was hinted in the wording of a notice of intent dated April 15, 2024.

In that notice of intent, BANSA stated that aircraft owned or chartered by the government of The Bahamas would be exempted from the charges, alongside aircraft engaged in search and rescue missions or medevac services, aircraft performing an emergency landing, and aircraft belonging to the Armed Forces or governments of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) member states.

“What makes this particularly concerning is that it appears this invoice is based on BANSA’s new charging scheme, which was only announced in April 2024 and was set to take effect in July 2024,” Rolle told The Tribune.

In the April 2024 notice of intent, BANSA said that increasing the O&D fees would significantly boost revenues from BSD3.65 million in the 2023-2024 fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) to BSD38.19 million by 2028-2029. However, revenues from overflights would drop from BSD44.39 million to BSD3.42 million in the same period. The changes were scheduled to start to take effect from July 1, 2024.

Similarly, Trans Island Airways (GGT, Nassau International) said it had received an invoice increasing by nearly 200% the sum it paid during the period. It said that if BANSA does not back down, it would most likely leave The Bahamas and relocate to another jurisdiction.

ch-aviation reached out to BANSA, Bahamasair, Western Air Bahamas, Flamingo Air, Trans Island Airways, Southern Air Charter, and Pineapple Air for comment. None were immediately available.