The earliest records of air transportation is mentioned in colonial records with a proposal by a Major H. H. Kitchener for an air service between Nassau and Miami in 1921. In 1928 Pan American Airways began flying mail and passengers from Florida to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Until 1936, only seaplanes operated in the Bahamas.
Bahamas Airways Limited (BAL) was formed in 1936 to takeover the operation Inter-island Charter Services (1933). In 1943, Pan American Airways (Pan Am) took a 45% stake in 1943 but was bought out by British South American Airways (BSAA) and in 1949 was subsequently was absorbed into British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
Seaplanes were expensive to operate and most amphibian aircraft were phased out of service in the 1960s, although some continued to be used in the 1970s. BOAC inaugurated a number of Jetliner services during this period.