The national flag carrier will focus its efforts on international routes in 2014 as they have proven to be more "promising" than domestic routes.
This announcement came as Bahamasair revealed its plans to add a third jet to its fleet later this month. With the latest addition to the fleet, the airline's Managing Director Henry Woods told Guardian Business that Bahamasair will be in a position to increase its service into the Florida market and re-enter the charter market.
In addition to that, a focus will be placed on sports tourism initiatives. Woods expressed optimism about the upcoming fiscal year.
"We hope to significantly reduce losses by increasing revenue and reducing expenses. Now as far as profit is concerned, we are far from making a profit. Profit in the airline industry is not the norm, not many airlines make a profit," he said.
"We're looking to re-enter the international charter market. That served us very well in the 2006/2007 era and we have a great demand for charters now. The third jet will serve to increase our services into Florida, which is very promising for us at the moment. This new jet will give us better capability, with a couple more hundred more miles than our existing jets.
"We want to follow the trend that the Ministry of Tourism has created with sports tourism. We want to piggyback off that, not only internationally but also locally. Now, we have a very focused marketing effort on dealing with the sporting organizations to supplement our revenue base."
Just last month, Woodrow Wilson, the airline's senior manager for international sales, confirmed that by tapping into the charter business, Bahamasair could substantially increase the number of tourists traveling on the airline, especially those traveling in groups, therefore driving overall revenue. At the time, he also admitted that in the past the airline has been challenged to provide charter services due to a lack of equipment.
"Once we establish a charter rate, there's a revenue base for the carrier. In addition to that, group movements fill planes. That's revenue and it grows from there," Wilson said.
Bahamasair is expected to receive its newest jet on January 24.
It is no secret that the national flag carrier continues to be a financial strain on the government, to the tune of an estimated $25 million in subsidies on an annual basis. The airline has incurred more than $500 million in losses since its creation in 1973. However, in recent months the airline has begun to see a turnaround, recording its first set of profits in decades last year.
According to Bahamasair Chairman Valentine Grimes, in July the airline was able to transform a loss of some $500,000 in 2012 to an operating profit of $250,000 - a turnaround of some $750,000.
"We're very optimistic and our fiscal year is July 1 to June 30. I am preparing the minister's mid-term report, which ended December 31. I think we had a very good first half. So we are hoping that the second half will be just as good as the first half," Woods further revealed to Guardian Business.
"We are in dialogue about the future vision of Bahamasair, that takes into consideration labor, fleet and routes."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian