As Bahamas service begins, two other airlines increase overseas flights from RDU
.jpg "Bahamasair began twice-weekly flights between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Freeport, Grand Bahama, on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.")
As Bahamasair began nonstop flights between the Triangle and Freeport this week, two other airlines have disclosed plans to beef up their trans-Atlantic flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Icelandair says it will shorten its winter break and resume nonstop flights between RDU and Reykjavik on March 8 rather than in May, as previously planned. The airline began flying from RDU this past May and originally expected to take a break at the end of October. Business was so good that it decided this summer to continue flying through Jan. 7.
The airline flies to and from Keflavik, the island nation’s main airport outside Reykjavik, four days a week and offers connections to 30 destinations in Europe.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines, which resumed flying between RDU and Paris in early August, says it will increase the frequency from four days a week to seven on March 26. Delta will also begin using a larger plane, a Boeing 767-400ER with 234 seats, 18 more than the Boeing model it uses now.
“International air service is growing at RDU,” said Michael Landguth, the airport’s president and CEO. “We’re excited that Delta is increasing the frequency of the Paris flight and accommodating more travelers.”
Airlines now fly to seven international destinations from RDU, two more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. They include the Bahamas, Cancun, Iceland, London, Montreal, Paris and Toronto.
Freeport, the main city on Grand Bahama, became the seventh destination on Thursday with the inaugural Bahamasair flight from RDU. The national carrier of the Bahamas is starting out with flights in and out of RDU on Thursdays and Sundays but hopes strong demand will allow it to offer more frequent service, said Prince Storr, the airline’s deputy managing director.
Bookings over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays have been stronger than expected, Storr said in an interview Thursday.
RDU became only the fifth U.S. destination for Bahamasair and the only one outside of Florida. Bahamian TV stations and other media were on hand for the ceremony before Thursday’s inaugural flight, as was Latia Duncombe, the acting director general of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation.
“Today is an amazing day,” Duncombe said. “Our passengers will enjoy first hand the warmth and the hospitality, the culture, the history of the island of Grand Bahama. And we expect to see these flights filled and more to come.”
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This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "As Bahamas service begins, two other airlines increase overseas flights from RDU."
