BermudAir, the Bermuda-based airline that offers flights between Westchester County Airport and L. F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda has been shifting to larger Embraer 190 aircraft from the Embraer 175 aircraft it had been flying and plans to soon add two more aircraft to its current fleet of four planes. The new airplanes are configured with 96 seats, compared with 77 on the Embraer 175s.
“It increases our capacity and means we have greater performance out of airports like Westchester,” BermudAir’s CEO Adam Scott told Westfair’s Westchester County Business Journal. “We’ll be looking to expand service to additional islands. Just before Christmas we launched AnguillAir as an operating brand of BermudAir and we launched service to the beautiful island of Anguilla from Boston, Newark and Baltimore. We’ll be looking to increase service to Anguilla for the next winter season.”
Scott said that he very much would like to offer service to international destinations other than Bermuda from Westchester but the current lack of U.S. Customs clearance for airline passengers arriving at Westchester prevents it.
“The reason why we are the only international service from Westchester is that we have U.S. Customs pre-clearance in Bermuda,” Scott said. “There aren’t many other places in the world that have U.S. pre-clearance in the destinations. I would love to have an Anguilla service to Westchester but it’s not possible until the day that we have U.S. Customs and Immigration in Westchester.”
Pre-clearance allows passengers flying to Westchester from Bermuda to clear U.S. Customs and Immigration before they get on the aircraft for the flight to the U.S.
At the present time, general aviation flights such as business jets arriving at Westchester County Airport from overseas can receive customs and immigration services on an appointment basis at the facilities handling private planes, Million Air, Signature-West and Atlantic-East.
“When we look at Westchester we have a large number of people who have flown with us 75 or 100 times already,” Scott says. “They tend to fly every week with us, which is just amazing. Westchester especially is an important route for us because there is connectivity between Bermuda and Westchester and the surrounding counties. There are a lot of people who travel back and forth, even on a commuting basis. We have continued to improve load factors across our network.”
Scott pointed out that the airline does more than just provide transportation.
“We have a business called Bermuda Holidays,” Scott said. “We package the flights, hotels, golf. We have seven golf courses in Bermuda and our holidays platform enables people to book.”
Scott said that the increases in oil prices due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran that in turn have been reflected in higher prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel have had an impact on BermudAir’s operating costs.
“It’s starting to impact us, but it affects the entire industry, of course,” Scott said. “We’ll weather this storm and look forward to peace in the Middle East and the price of oil falling again. Maybe it will fall more than it rose. We’ll be optimistic.”
Scott said that BermudAir was not significantly affected by the problems with passenger clearance at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints due to the partial government shutdown that resulted in hours-long waits for passengers at some airports.
“At the airports we operate to and from we haven’t experienced any adverse impacts,” Scott said. “One of the great things with an airport like Westchester is that it’s small and efficient. Even in Newark, it’s a good time for us, we’ve had minimal impacts.”
