merv griffin's paradise island resort and casino

By this point, Chalk’s had upgraded its fleet of Grumman Goose to Grumman Mallards. Using a trio of De Havilland Dash 7s, the airline would prioritize flying to Florida, leaving Chalk’s to serve domestic routes to the airport. Using its own operating certificate and operated as a subsidiary of Chalk’s, Paradise Island Airlines would begin operations on March 24, 1989, to the namesake island. The launch of a new land airport in 1989 would come alongside the creation of a new airline to compliment the airfield. The land-based airfield would take the name of the New Providence Airport and even have its own ICAO and IATA codes of PID and MYPI, respectively.Īt the time, Chalk Ocean Airways’ project manager Bill Jones commented on the change, saying, “there is a demand for more seats and you can’t a seaplane on water at night.” Resorts International would construct a 3,000-foot runway for land-based operations on the eastern side of the airport, conveniently positioning the airport closer to the Resorts International property but still remaining competitively close for Atlantis vacationers. Under Merv’s leadership, a push in the last 1980s saw the construction of a new airfield for operations on the island.

Over time, Griffin’s would create massive plans for the tiny airport. It was during this time that Chalk’s was bought by Merv Griffin’s Resorts International, who owned Paradise Island Resort and Casino, a resort on the opposite side of the island. Private seaplanes and helicopters had access to the pads, with enough room for limited aircraft storage for guests to the island. Aircraft were instructed to land in Nassau Harbor and taxi onto land with a small concrete patch and hangar connecting the sea-operating aircraft with Paradise Beach Drive. However, in years previous, getting to the island resort was made much easier by the various iterations of the Paradise Island Airport.įormed with the creation of the Atlantis, the Paradise Island Sea Base was quickly accessed by legendary Bahamian and Floridian carrier Chalk’s Ocean Airways, who flew to the sea base with Grumman Goose aircraft.

As bookings already rise to over 90% occupancy, those flying to Paradise Island will default to the Lynden Pindling International Airport to get access to the island. As the post-pandemic society craves for a vacation, one might notice that the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort will once again become that go-to international resort that Americans will turn to.

Merv griffin's paradise island resort and casino