First runways in the Bahamas – PART I

My first job was in the marketing department of Esso Standard Oil, SA, when that company supplied fuel to all the service stations on New Providence. Motorists had the choice of three brands of fuels – Esso, Sinclair and Texaco –but all three of those brands came out of the same storage tanks on Hog Island. Later, Esso built the first fuel depot at Clifton.

The corporation had its origins in John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, which monopolised most of the world’s production of oil and made it the target of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.

The Sherman Act broadly prohibits anticompetitive agreements and unilateral conduct that monopolises, or attempts to monopolise, US markets.

The brand name Esso continues to serve Bahamian motorists, but on the world stage the company is now called Exxon Mobil.

In 1940, the Nassau press, published an article about Flying in the Bahamas, taken from a magazine (for private circulation) called

INTAVA World – which became Esso Air World and is now Exxon Air World:

“Although Nassau, the capital of the Bahama Islands, has been served by flying-boat services, from the American mainland, for over ten years, it was not until a few years ago that the British Government showed any practical interest in the development of the islands as an air tourist centre, by the despatch of an Air Ministry official, to survey the site for a proposed aerodrome, and to report on the general flying conditions of the Colony.

“Hitherto, the only organised flying facilities in the islands were at the Nassau flying-boat base, which was originally established to serve as a terminal for the Pan-American service from Miami.

“The Bahamas Winter season lasts from about mid-December to the end of April and, during this period; Pan-American operates daily service from Miami to Nassau. For the rest of the year, it operates thrice weekly. As the result of the Air Ministry’s survey, the Imperial Government began construction of an airport, on a site about 3 miles south of the city of Nassau, early in 1939, but in December of that year, the incomplete airport was sold to Sir Harry Oakes on the understanding that he must complete the aerodrome and maintain it solely for flying purposes.

“Sir Harry Oakes has been a pioneer and benefactor of flying in the Bahamas. In 1936, Harold Christie and he founded Bahamas Airways Ltd, which began operation in November of that year. This company maintains a fleet of three sea-going aircraft – a Loening AirYacht six-passenger, single-engined amphibian, a Douglas Dolphin sixpassenger, twin-engined amphibian and a Luscombe, two-seat light seaplane. The first two aircraft are used for scheduled and charter flying, among the islands and to the American mainland, and the Luscombe seaplane is for giving instruction to members of the newly formed Bahamas Flying Club, which also owes its inception to Sir Harry Oakes. (John Maura was the first Bahamian to fly ‘solo’.)

“From January 1 through April 30, Bahamas Airways Ltd operates a weekly service from Nassau to

Dunmore Town, Harbour Island; and to Hatchet Bay and Governor’s Harbour, on Eleuthera Island – two of the outer islands in the archipelago. Actually, the Bahamas group includes about twenty inhabited islands, the most populated of which is New Providence, on which Nassau is situated.

When Sir Harry took over the unfinished airport, one runway, 3,000 ft long and running from East to West, had been completed, and the surface asphalted.

“A second runway, 4,000 ft. long and running from NE to SW has since been finished by Sir Harry and the coral surface rolled hard, and a third, 3,200 ft. long and running North to South is under construction. Plans are in hand for the erection of administration buildings, sheds, etc. and the provision of all modern facilities, which will be needed to meet the demands of a greatly augmented air tourist traffic that such an aerodrome will undoubtedly attract from the mainland.”

• For questions and comments, please send an e-mail to islandairman@gmail.com

Animal matters

Kim Aranha