May 28, 2013
David Bauerlein

Jacksonville International Airport will get a chance to literally live up to its name when Silver Airways begins nonstop flights to the Bahamas next month.

Silver Airways will make its first flight from Jacksonville to Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas on June 15, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority announced Tuesday.

“We think it’s a great step toward hopefully building that type of activity so we can add flights to more Caribbean destinations or Latin American destinations,” authority spokeswoman Debbie Jones said.

Jacksonville has had a tough time succeeding with regularly scheduled international flights. Air Canada tried daily nonstop flights to Toronto in 2001 but quashed the service the same year.

Jet Blue has flown nonstop from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico since 2011, but Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United State so it’s not considered an international flight.

The Silver Airways flights will require travelers to take their passports with them, making them international.

Silver Airways, based in Ft. Lauderdale, says its 19-seat and 34-seat planes make makes 190 daily scheduled flights operating in Florida, the Bahamas, Georgia, and seven other states. Silver will have a ticket counter at Jacksonville International Airport.

Sliver will have once-a-week service between Jacksonville and Marsh Harbour, with both departures and arrivals being on Saturdays.

Craig Air Center, a charter air flight business based at Jacksonville Executive Airport at Craig Field, also offers flights to Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas.

Source: http://bit.ly/158oxEU