Western Air

Updated on Nov 29, 2023

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WT WST Commenced operations 2001 Fleet size 22 Founded 2001 Date of operation 2001		WST WESTERN AIR Subsidiaries Vision Air Ltd. Motto We'll Take You There Number of employees 150

Operating bases San Andros Airport, Andros Island Headquarters San Andros Airport, Bahamas Hubs Lynden Pindling International Airport, Grand Bahama International Airport

Western air takeoff from san andros to nassau

Western Air Limited is the largest privately owned airline in the Bahamas. Western Air has its headquarters on the grounds of San Andros Airport in Andros Island, Bahamas. The airline was established in 2001 by husband-and-wife team, Rex J. Rolle and Shandrice Woodside- Rolle. Currently, Mr. and Mrs. Rolle serve as president & CEO and COO respectively. Their daughter, Sherrexcia 'Rexy' Rolle serves as Vice President of Operations and General Counsel. Western Air now operates from their new second hub at Grand Bahama International Airport. Which will serve as its main northern hub. opening new direct routes to direct flights to Haiti, Jamaica, Turks & Caicos, and eventually Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida. The new $4 million state-of-the-art Western Air terminal will be housing Western Air’s terminal, corporate office and maintenance facility. Western said that their fleet will increase more rapidly due to the rising demand in airlift.

Cp air 1983

Destinations

Western Air offers daily flights between Nassau and San Andros, Congo Town, Bimini, Abaco and Freeport on Grand Bahama. It also operates corporate and touristic charters throughout The Bahamas, the Caribbean, (including Haiti and Cuba), as well as South America.

Western takes Air Jamaica route

Western Air has also taken over Air Jamaica routes to Nassau The carrier said it has been granted a charter licence by the Jamaican Government and the Jamaican Civil Aviation Authority to operate daily flights from Kingston and Montego Bay to Nassau. In addition, it said that it was granted a schedule and charter licence by the Bahamian Government and its civil aviation agency to operate flights from the Bahamas to Jamaica. It will fly between Kingston and Nassau from Sundays to Fridays and between Montego Bay and Nassau twice weekly, on Fridays and Sundays.

"Flying direct from Jamaica to Bahamas eliminates the need to travel through the United States and requiring a United States visa," the airline noted, adding that this was expected to be welcomed by travelers who would otherwise have no direct flights to and from Jamaica when Air Jamaica discontinued service to that country.

Flights to Cuba from The Bahamas start (October 8, 2013)

October 8, 2013 marked the inaugural Western Air flight from the Bahamas to Cuba, building what officials hope would be a “bridge” between the two countries to better facilitate trade and commerce. The aircraft can seat 33 passengers and is expected to carry out one complete route, once a day, three times a week – courtesy of a partnership between Western Air and Blue Bahamas Crossing (BCB). Captain Wolf Seyfret, Western Air’s Director of Operations, said a demand for such a route does exist based on statistics from other airlines and past services that Western Air has done. "Our average load has been 22 passengers. We’ve had full flights, we’ve had flights with 19 passengers – but the average load has been 22 passengers. So yes, from that I can say there definitely is a demand there." he said.

He explained that Western Air and BCB have "very diligently looked at the market" and decided the two carriers that presently provide the service are “not able to satisfy demand” – leaving room in the market for Western Air to step in. "We can say from observing the current levels with Cubana and Bahamasair – there’s a lot of passengers being turned away because of the load factors on both airlines so definitely there is a demand for that service." he said. Mr Seyfret added that the privately owned Western Air “can definitely be more flexible” than the two government-owned airlines. Zena Burland, BCB chairwoman, explained that the creation of this new service is mainly geared towards encouraging business opportunities and trade relations between the Bahamas and Cuba. She noted that transportation remains "one of the major barriers" that prevents the Bahamas’ movement for commerce, trade, and wider networking in the region. "Blue Crossing Bahamas saw this barrier to regional trade and initiated a strategic solution" she said. To this end, it focused on its nearest trading and regional neighbor, the Republic of Cuba. The Bahamas shares regional trade agreements with the Republic of Cuba. The goals then became to stimulate and encourage the flow of trade and commerce at all sectors of industry thereby creating opportunities for the citizen within the regional areas.

The success of these activities of course needs to be secured and supported by offering a scheduled air service to the republic of Cuba from the Bahamas

and therefore providing a bridge for Bahamians, Cubans, and those from the US with full complete approval to visit Cuba for vacation, education, health care and family visits. Likewise for them to also visit the Bahamas and other regional areas.” BCB is already engaged with businesses that are interested in the new service, Ms Burland said, adding that BCB and Western Air “recognize the need” for reliable air transportation service between the Bahamas and other countries in the region. “We are providing these air link services to provide the venue for large scale development and hotel development to reach its strategic goals by positioning itself to support these developments as we seek to create our strategic partnering program to enhance and promote regional developments.”

The Western Air service leaves Nassau for Havana at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It leaves Havana on its return trip to Nassau at 8:15 pm the same day.

Hubs

As of September 5, 2015 Western Airunveiled its new 6 million dollar passenger terminal and maintenance facility on Freeport,Grand Bahama. Due to high demand in airlift the airline will be introducing new destinations and reopening old ones.