• Customs u-turn on Click2Clear at 11th hour

• As industry confusion, frustration peaking

• FBO chief’s ‘50-60 calls’, plus cancellations

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas Customs yesterday flew to the private aviation industry’s last-minute rescue by delaying implementation of a new border control regime that some feared could drive away up to 50 percent of this nation’s business.

A spokesperson for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the world’s largest aviation association, told Tribune Business it had received a letter from acting Customs comptroller, Ralph Munroe, confirming that the roll-out of the Click2Clear system for private pilots - which was supposed to take effect today - had been halted at the 11th hour.

They added that the u-turn, which occurred just hours before the proposed implementation deadline, was made “pending further discussion by Customs, government officials and programmers to address reasonable concerns expressed by stakeholders”.

Mark Baker, president of AOPA, which bills itself as the world’s largest aviation membership organisation that is several hundred thousand-strong, said in a statement to this newspaper: “My sincere appreciation to acting comptroller of Bahamas Customs, Ralph Munroe, as well as those in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.

“This decision reflects leadership and the great working partnership we enjoy with The Bahamas. Our shared goal is to ensure pilots continue flying to the beautiful Islands of The Bahamas.” However, Tribune Business can reveal that confusion, uncertainty and frustration were all rising in the run-up to the now-aborted June 1 deadline for Customs to introduce Click2Clear as private aviation’s new entrance and exit clearance system.

Charles Bowe, operations manager at Jet Nassau, the major fixed base operator (FBO) at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), told Tribune Business prior to Customs’ pull back being confirmed that he had yesterday fielded between 50 to 60 calls from private pilots and others in the sector all voicing concerns and challenges with Click2Clear.

Revealing that he had received “cancellations” from private fliers even prior to the new system’s full launch, he added that if implementation had followed the same lines as the introduction of the $50 aircraft processing fee, this nation could have lost up to 50 percent of a segment that provides The Bahamas’ “elite tourists” with the highest per capita spend.

Confirming that Jet Nassau had been planning for Click2Clear’s June 1 implementation, Mr Bowe told this newspaper: “It is fairly short notice and the system is extremely complex. I’ve had crew members calling me, saying it’s taking up to four hours to download documents. That’s not a pretty picture, believe me.

“I already told Customs, and I already told tourism, that this is going to have a drastic impact on our aviation industry which is already in difficulty due to the COVID protocols. This only adds to the challenge. I’ve already seen a number of cancellations for tomorrow [today] because of frustrations with the system. I’ve been taking calls all day on the matter.”

Asked about the potential consequences if Customs had gone ahead as planned, the Jet Nassau chief replied: “If it repeats what happened before, when they implemented the Customs inbound/outbound processing fee for light private aircraft, we saw at least a 50 percent reduction in those arrivals. This will potentially kill it.

“With the private jets, only based on the calls today, if it is implemented they will be seeking another destination. They have money to go wherever they want, and don’t need the hassle.”

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, last week argued that introducing the $50 Customs processing fee for private plane arrivals had not retarded the sector’s economic growth and contribution. Rather, he asserted that the sector had only expanded since.

Mr Bowe, though, said it was the way in which the processing fee was applied - rather than the sum involved - that alienated the private aviation industry. “That was only $50, and the impact of it was significant,” he revealed. “It wasn’t the money; it was the way it was applied..... And this is not about the money; it’s about the time.

“Nobody is going to sit in an office and take two to three hours completing information for a process that is absolutely not necessary. Maybe if it was implemented over a period of time, but just to stonewall it like this is very hard to swallow. It’s extremely hard to swallow.

“That’s my take on the ground. I’ve received today no less than 50-60 calls on the matter. This is how we generate revenue. These guys that arrive in private jets are the elite tourists that come into the country. Their expenditure far exceeds that of commercial airline stopovers or cruise passengers. We’ll see what happens but it’s not going to be good. I don’t need a looking glass to tell me that,” Mr Bowe continued.

“I have already had cancellations today, and it hasn’t even started today. The sorts of comments I’ve been getting are: ‘My goodness, I’ve been at this for two hours’; ‘I’ll go down to Turks & Caicos, cancel my reservation’; ‘Why implement this now? Getting into The Bahamas is more difficult than flying to Mexico’.

“The country has just started to get itself started after COVID, and we’re trying to understand why do this? It is what it is. We don’t run the country; we just follow the rules. Hopefully they will listen to people who have some expertise and make the right decision.”

Just seconds after ending the call with Mr Bowe, Tribune Business received the AOPA’s confirmation that Customs had decided to delay implementation with no revised deadline or timetable given. Upon being called back, Mr Bowe said he was surprised that Bahamian private aviation stakeholders such as Jet Nassau had seemingly not been informed of Customs’ decision to alter course at the same time as those based overseas.

“We’re stakeholders. They sent the letter to AOPA but failed to send it to us,” he queried. “This has been a very hard struggle for the past three to four days. I’m just really tired of having to turn my clients around: It’s on, it’s off. It’s on, it’s off... They specifically told me they were going to implement this tomorrow [today], and we’ve gone through a lot as you can imagine. Trust me, it has been very intensive.”

Meanwhile, Jim Parker, of Caribbean Flying Adventures, told Tribune Business that Customs officers at some Bahamian airports had sought to implement the Click2Clear entrance system even prior to the June 1 ‘go live’ date. “Just so you know, some airports in The Bahamas where unaware of the alleged postponement,” he wrote in an e-mail.

“Governors Harbour, for example, made a pilot who arrived on the 29th spend nearly an hour filing the Click2Clear using a borrowed laptop from the fuel suppliers. Communications by Customs with their own people, much less the aviation community, needs some attention.”

Customs appears to have pulled back after AOPA called on the Government to delay implementing Click2Clear for private aviation until the 2023 first quarter’s end, amid fears the process will be “very tedious, cumbersome and unintuitive”.

Mr Baker, in a May 24, 2022, letter to deputy prime minister, Chester Cooper, wrote: “While I appreciate the initiative by The Bahamas in supporting new and efficient methods to improve the Customs process, I believe reasonable notice with adequate instruction is also warranted....

“AOPA would like to work with your team to ensure the Click2Clear programme is vetted for use by private pilots so as to ensure we can reduce complexity and confusion, and avoid the risk of deterring and alienating private operators from visiting The Bahamas.”

To clear Customs upon entry to The Bahamas, private pilots presently have to file their flight plan and complete a C7A inward declaration form. The information required includes the plane owner and pilot’s names, the aircraft registration number, the identities of any passengers, and details on where the plans is coming from and on its departure.

A $50 Customs arrival fee is also payable. A general declaration form must also be completed on departure, together with the $29 per person departure tax. However, Customs has swiftly moved to digitise these long-standing manual processes by requiring that they now be completed via its Click2Clear electronic portal, seemingly with little to no warning for the industry.

The goal will likely be to collect all revenue due to the Government from the private aviation industry and its customers, and ensure that all the necessary electronic records to document this and their arrival are in place. A ‘flyer’ from Bahamas Customs & Excise’s information technology (IT) unit, sent to the sector and obtained by Tribune Business, said the reforms will boost convenience and efficiency for all as pilots can submit payment and the forms before they arrive.

“Click2Clear’s ‘pleasure craft module’ will be a game changer to revolutionise the way private aircrafts clear into The Bahamas via air travel,” the Customs document said, adding that the new system had been due to launch on May 2. “Make travel simpler and easy from the comfort of your home or office before arriving to The Bahamas.”