Expansion in the tourism sector and watching an increasing number of its customers moving through Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) finally sold Jet Aviation on the idea of finding a partner in The Bahamas, according to David Paddock, senior vice president and general manager of U.S. aircraft services. Paddock was responding to questions from Guardian Business about the new partnership between Jet Aviation and Executive Flight Services (EFS) to create a new fixed-base operator (FBO) entity called Jet Aviation Bahamas.

The partnership will mean the expansion of EFS' facilities at LPIA. Paddock told Guardian Business that Jet Aviation and EFS have developed a strong working relationship through a business aviation advisory board and mutual customer relationships, which evolved into a discussion of how the companies could work together to jointly develop the FBO business in Nassau.

"We also felt that Jet Aviation and Alphonso Bowe, the owner of EFS, shared a similar management philosophy, particularly as it relates to quality, safety, customer service and future growth opportunities," Paddock said.

According to him, Jet Aviation manages more than 200 business jets globally and provides a range of business aircraft support services including maintenance, fixed-base operator services, staffing and other related services wherever its customers fly most often.

"Over the past five years we saw an increasing number of Jet Aviation customers transiting Lynden Pindling International Airport and specifically EFS, and we came to the conclusion that Nassau would be a logical expansion market," he explained.

"Jet Aviation has a nearly 50-year track record of profitable expansion of its global network and we believe that if we deliver high quality services that customers value we can continue to be successful, especially in markets like Nassau. The tourism industry in The Bahamas is also rapidly expanding and we want to be able to support customers in this area."

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