RIC flights to Bahamas will begin in November
Saturday July 23, 2011
Section Business
Page 1
RIC flights to Bahamas will beginin November
Discount service to charge as low as $99 for some seats
BY PETER BACQUÉ
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A discount air carrier will start twice-weekly service between Richmond and the Bahamas in November.
Vision Airlines is offering one-way fares as low as $99 on its service from Richmond International Airport to Grand Bahama Island.
"We're really trying to hit the leisure travelers who are mindful of their budget and make it affordable for them to travel," airline spokeswoman Gini Strobel said Friday.
"We'll partner with Grand Bahama Island to have airfare and hotel packages," she said. "If you bundle, you will save."
Vision Airlines will launch its Richmond service to Freeport in the Caribbean country Nov. 4, Strobel said.
"This is a demanded destination for Richmond travelers for a good price," said RIC spokesman Troy Bell.
Vision Airlines has an agreement with the Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board to begin service to the tropical resort location.
"Nonstop service from Richmond to Freeport had been a very popular vacation option for years, until the program ended in January 2004," Bell said. "Great to see it coming back, (with) perfect timing for fall and winter getaways."
RIC had seen as many as 31,000 travelers annually using the earlier Bahama flights, Bell said. Richmond International handles about 3.3 million passengers a year.
Vision's Bahamas flight is the first new destination for RIC since Delta Air Lines reinstituted service to Minneapolis more than a year ago.
"This is really the latest reincarnation of service we've had off and on for the last 25 years under different carriers that, in essence, were arms of hotel operators," said transportation economist George E. Hoffer at the University of Richmond.
While "Richmond is better off with this service," Hoffer cautioned that "the only potential problem is getting stuck down there if they cancel the flight."
The $99 fares are nonrefundable and not available on all flights, Vision said. "If you wait to book the night before, you're probably not going to get a $99 fare," Strobel said.
For Vision's Bahamas flights, 136-passenger Boeing 737 jets will depart Richmond International on Mondays and Fridays at 1:35 p.m. and arrive in Freeport at 3:45 p.m.
On the return from Freeport International Airport, Vision's departures will be Mondays and Fridays at 10:25 a.m., arriving in Richmond at 12:35 p.m.
Freeport is less than 90 miles from the east coast of Florida.
Although the Bahamian government only asks for proof of citizenship and identity to enter the Bahamas, the United States requires Americans have a valid passport to fly home to the U.S. from that country, the U.S. State Department says.
Most airlines will not permit a U.S. citizen to fly to the Bahamas without a valid U.S. passport and risk getting stranded there, the State Department said.
Vision Airlines started 17 years ago as Vision Air, offering tourist flights from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. The company grew into a large charter carrier and, since last year, a commercial service airline.
Vision's charter clients have included presidential candidates, celebrities, professional sports teams and gaming resorts, the airline said.
The Bahamas is an English-speaking Caribbean nation composed of hundreds of islands covering an area slightly smaller than Connecticut.
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