Bahamasair monthly operating expenses hits $7 mil.

Bahamasair monthly operating expenses hits $7 mil.
Tommy Turnquest. (TOURISM TODAY)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamasair chairman Tommy Turnquest said yesterday there was “no massaging” the figures regarding the national flag carrier’s dire financial position, with overall expenses hitting $7 million a month.

Turnquest addressed the state of the airline’s finances at a press conference yesterday.

He said a deeper dive into the airlines expenses revealed that Bahamian tax payers were on the hook for $7 million a month, or a whopping $84 million a year.

“There is no massaging the figures, it is what it is,” he said.

“There is a personnel cost of around $3.5 million a month, there are other expenses in terms of keeping the engines running and we still have to pay rent in all of the airports we fly to to maintain those.”

He continued: “The good news is we will start domestic travel later this week. We don’t know if there is pent up demand but we know that there are persons in some of the family islands that want to come to New Providence.

“Those persons coming from any family island other than Grand Bahama will not need to have a COVID test and quarantine when they arrive.”

Turnquest said: “Those persons coming from New Providence or Grand Bahama, before they get on the plane have to have a negative PCR test result and then quarantine for 14 days at their destination. That means there is not going to be much travel that way.”