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Skyport sues BermudAir over unpaid fees

Skyport has launched legal action against BermudAir alleging unpaid airport charges (File photograph)

A legal action has been launched against the carrier BermudAir over allegations that it has fallen behind on payments to Skyport.

The Royal Gazette understands that the back payments being sought add up to millions of dollars.

A spokeswoman for Skyport, the operator of LF Wade International Airport, issued a statement that the Bermudian-based airline was now “substantially behind” in payments of its airport charges.

“After unsuccessfully attempting to work with BermudAir for over a year, Skyport has been forced to initiate a legal process to recover the significant owing balance and ensure payment going forward,” the spokeswoman said.

BermudAir confirmed that it was dealing with “a number of commercial issues” with Skyport that it hoped to resolve “in the coming weeks”.

Airport charges are fees paid for by passengers and airlines for the use of airport facilities and services under the Bermuda Airport Authority Act 2017.

The Skyport statement explained that the charges are collected by airlines on behalf of Skyport and are required to be paid over.

“BermudAir has been collecting these charges for an extended period of time and not paying them over to Skyport,” the spokeswoman said.

“Since inception, Skyport has been a strong advocate of BermudAir and has supported their start-up by extending roughly $700,000 in fee concessions for new services.”

A legal writ was filed by the firm Wakefield Quinn on behalf of Bermuda Skyport Corporation Ltd on July 11 listing BermudAir Ltd as the respondent.

The hiatus in payments to Skyport comes at a particularly busy time for air travel in Bermuda, implying that the figure owed would have risen significantly in the two weeks since legal action commenced.

A spokeswoman for BermudAir said: “We are in the process of resolving a number of commercial issues with Skyport.

“We remain confident that a resolution will be reached in the coming weeks as we have been engaging constructively and in good faith with the Skyport team.

“It is unfortunate that Skyport has chosen to publicly comment on a confidential commercial matter, which we believe is best handled through direct and professional dialogue.”

She added: “We are proud to be a privately funded Bermudian enterprise that continues to thrive in a very challenging environment.

“We work with many strategic partners, of which Skyport is one, to provide a valuable service to the Bermuda community, creating new connections for business and leisure travellers, bringing new visitors to the island and driving job growth and economic prosperity.”

BermudAir first launched in September 2023 with two aircraft offering direct service between Bermuda and Boston and Westchester.

Since then, the airline has doubled its fleet and introduced a number of new routes to cities including Toronto, Halifax, Charleston, Orlando, Richmond, Baltimore and Montreal.

This year, the airline announced the launch of AnguillAir, a new brand under the BermudAir umbrella, which will run flights from Boston and Baltimore to Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory, starting in December.

It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers