More Bahamas....70 Seats...

[Crzipilot]

US Airways Express to Begin Charlotte-George Town Service

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US Airways announced today that it will introduce service between Charlotte, N.C., and George Town, Bahamas on Dec. 18, 2004, the airline's fifth nonstop destination in the Islands of the Bahamas.

US Airways Express operator PSA Airlines will fly the new service each Saturday using 70-seat Canadair Regional Jet 700s.

"This new service, coupled with the start of our new marketing relationship with Bahamasair, expands our breadth of service not ony to the Bahamas, but to the choice of popular island destinations that we serve from Charlotte," said Douglas D. Leo, US Airways vice president of sales and international.

US Airways currently serves 18 Caribbean and Latin American destinations from Charlotte. New nonstop Charlotte-Liberia and Charlotte-Barbados service will begin on Feb. 12, 2005. Codeshare flights with Bahamasair will begin on Sept. 15, 2004.

US Airways, the US Airways Express carriers and US Airways Shuttle provide service to nearly 200 destinations worldwide, including 37 states in the U.S. and 11 destinations in Europe. In the Caribbean and Latin America, US Airways serves Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cancun, Cozumel, Grand Bahama Island, Grand Cayman, Grenada, La Romana, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Nassau, Providenciales, Punta Cana, San Jose, San Juan, Santo Domingo, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and St. Croix. US Airways Express also serves North Eleuthera and Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas. For more information on US Airways flight schedules and fares, visit US Airways online at usairways.com.

US Airways is a member of the Star Alliance network. Star Alliance was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers global reach and a smooth travel experience. The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, Thai Airways International, United, US Airways and VARIG Brazilian Airlines.

SOURCE US Airways

 

[ITRADE]

George Town? That's a pretty good haul down to the southern tier of the Bahamas.

What are the OW rules for the CRJ-700???

BTW, its 861 miles - straight line. The CRJ may have to do a different routing to ensure land proximity requirements.

 

[Bluestreak]

WooooHoooo!!! I'll be flying to the Bahamas this winter!

 

[WestCoastGuy]

So will all those FF'ers redeeming their mileage. Good Luck getting a seat!

 

[ringmaruf]

I think Bluestreak will have a better seat than us mere FFers.

 

[Bluestreak]

Most likely it willl be a quick turn for us. That's what we do in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. They let us fly there and see how the rich folks live the good life and then it's back to DCA 20 minutes later. It helps to remind me of my slave status.

 

[hadEnuff]

That is another excellent way to ecourge psrs not to fly US. PSA has absolutely no flight schedule integrity. In fact that whole operation is a joke and this has been an on going problem for two months and when you talk to their dispatch and crew scheduling depts they only reply it is involved to make changes and correct the problem. If passengers realize it is PSA operating the flight it most certainly will hurt bookings

 

[Bluestreak]

HadEnuf,

Take it easy on PSA. Yes, we have sucked the last few months, but you have to understand PSA has doubled in size and taken delivery of two new aircraft types over the past year. We've had to develope a training program for maintenance, FAs, pilots, and dispatch in a short period. Our crew scheduling department is staffed by brand new people, or dispatchers are mostly new, and our pilots are all new to this aircraft. On top of that, we've had horrible attrition with the J4J pilots taking their type rating and running. What do you expect?

On the bright side... The staffing crisis is coming to an end. We have a decent supply of reserve pilots starting in October, and the last dornier flight is Sept 7th. That will free up some more resources.

 

[767jetz]

George Town? That's a pretty good haul down to the southern tier of the Bahamas.

What are the OW rules for the CRJ-700???

BTW, its 861 miles - straight line. The CRJ may have to do a different routing to ensure land proximity requirements.

[post="169716"][/post]​

I used to fly to Georgetown in Cessna 402's many years ago. Overwater should not be an issue beyond having life vests. There are many tiny islands along the southern chain of the Bahamas. The way I understand it, as long as there is a piece of rock, it's legal It doesn't have to be a usable piece of land.

 

[ITRADE]

Thanks 767 for the reply.

Just looking at a map though, there seems to be a good water gap between the Carolina coast and the Bahamas. Will this require US to fly inland for a ways and cross over at say some point in Florida?

 

[lindy]

I used to fly to Georgetown in Cessna 402's many years ago. Overwater should not be an issue beyond having life vests. There are many tiny islands along the southern chain of the Bahamas. The way I understand it, as long as there is a piece of rock, it's legal It doesn't have to be a usable piece of land.

[post="169900"][/post]​

767..

You need to have more than a piece of rock. To be compliant with FAR 121, you need to be within 60 minutes of an adequate airport.


Lindy

 

[BoeingBoy]

FWIW, I've heard Comair on the frequency while using the overwater route between DIXON fix just north of ILM and S. Florida. They do fly from CVG to Nassau non-stop with the CRJ.

Jim

 

[ItsJustAJob]

I've heard that PSA will be applying for an overwater exemption. I believe it will allow overwater ops within 160 or so miles of land.

 

[AtlanticBeach]

FWIW, I've heard Comair on the frequency while using the overwater route between DIXON fix just north of ILM and S. Florida. They do fly from CVG to Nassau non-stop with the CRJ.

Jim

[post="170024"][/post]​

Flying ILM direct NAS is never more than 150 miles from the US coast. From NAS it is about 110 NM to Great Exuma the last 80 miles are over a beautiful archipaelago of the Lesser Exumas.

The Four Seasons just opened a resort in Georgetown. Fares should stay at good levels. Just hope that bookings are limited to 46 or less since there will be tons of luggage, including scuba gear.

Used to go to Georgetown when the Out Island Inn was open. Did the trip in an Arrow and then an Aztec several times back when there were only 2 30 seat BahamasAir flights per week.

 

[Hope777]

Beach, why a 46 pax limit on a 70 seat aircraft?