Despite concerns that Bahamian airline Sky Bahamas could be facing eviction from the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) because of outstanding fees and money owed to the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), the company’s head said there is no need to be worried.
Sky Bahamas Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Captain Randy Butler told Eyewitness News exclusively that there is no concern about being evicted.
Butler, in a telephone interview stated that, while the letter from NAD, which made it rounds on social media today alerting the public of the issue is authentic, the figures are not the latest.
“NAD and Sky Bahamas are working out the details,” Butler explained.
“We’ve been partners for over 10 years. And, on the domestic side, they can say we’re truly been one of their leaders.”
Butler said the industry has been “very challenging” and that the real issue is about the fees associated with airline operations.
“What happened is that you can get credit through travel agencies that collect these fees,” he said.
“These are all of our leases, all of our bills, holdings and all of those things are current with NAD you just have to do with what they call a facility fee. And what happens is that we have creditors like the government agencies, others that collect this tax and then that tax is remitted to us and we remit it to NAD.”
He also clarified that the money outstanding does not mean Sky Bahamas is unable to meet its commitments.
“So, we bill out 30 days and some people bill out 45 or 60 days – of course the government pays when they’re ready – and we have to pay value-added tax (VAT) on the taxes and on the bills that are owed, we have to pay that. So, NAD has been good with us – with working out those times,” he said.
“But I know they are having some challenging times too.
“We’ve been partners in working out agreements.”
