Vision Airlines, a low-cost carrier based in Georgia, will launch twice-weekly nonstop service Friday from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Grand Bahama Island.
The Monday and Friday evening flights to the Freeport airport will use Boeing 737 jets.
Vision, based in Suwanee, Ga., was evicted from Little Rock National Airport in Arkansas last month in a dispute over more than $50,000 in unpaid fees. John C. Brantley, the RDU airport director, said he has taken steps to minimize RDU’s risk in dealing with Vision Airlines.
“They were in three or four airports where they pulled out fairly quickly,” Brantley said. “Their track record certainly is not the best in the world, so we have gone to the extreme to make sure we were protected from any potential default on their part.”
He said Vision will operate through a contract with Raleigh-based Charter Express, an established tenant at RDU.
“They’ve signed an agreement with Charter Express as well as a payment guarantee bond with them,” Brantley said.
Vision spokeswoman Gini Strobel said she did not have information about the airline’s dispute with the Little Rock airport. She referred a reporter to Vision’s sales director, Clay Meek, who did not respond to telephone and email requests for comment.
Vision is advertising one-way fares of $29 to $79 to Freeport, with a $2 round-trip fare for travelers who stay three nights at one of the Bahamas resorts listed at the airline website, visionairlines.com.
Travelers also pay taxes and fees of $112.60 for the Bahamas round trip.
