A 48-Minute Flight Is About to Open a New Door Into the Bahamas' Biggest Resort Hub
Tradewind Aviation is adding a daily Fort Lauderdale-Nassau flight this December, part of a 30 percent jump in the airline's Bahamas schedule.
Getting from South Florida to the Bahamas' busiest resort island is about to take less than an hour. Tradewind Aviation launches a daily Fort Lauderdale-Nassau flight on Dec. 10, and the airline pegs the trip at just 48 minutes.
The new route connects Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International with Lynden Pindling International, and it runs seven days a week aboard Tradewind's eight-passenger Pilatus PC-12 turboprops. The launch is part of a broader push: the carrier is increasing its overall Bahamas flying by 30 percent starting in mid-December.
What sets the service apart is how it feels. Tradewind sells individual seats but operates from private FBO terminals — Sheltair in Fort Lauderdale and a private aviation terminal in Nassau — with a recommended arrival of about an hour before departure. It's scheduled airline service dressed in the trappings of private aviation, without chartering the whole plane.
Nassau is the prize destination in the expansion. The capital and neighboring Paradise Island hold the country's deepest hotel inventory, anchored by major resorts including Atlantis, Baha Mar and The Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort. Tradewind already pairs its existing Nassau flights with a hotel-and-flight package at Atlantis, a hint at where its Bahamas strategy is headed.
The addition rounds out Tradewind's Fort Lauderdale map. The airline already flies daily from the airport to Marsh Harbour in Abaco and to North Eleuthera, the gateway to Harbour Island. With Nassau joining them, all three of its primary Bahamas destinations will be reachable from Fort Lauderdale every day of the week. Reservations are already open, with the airline's Bahamas schedule published through June 1.