BERMUDA was the second most popular destination in a British Airways special offer on flights to locations all over the globe out of the UK.

The airline offered passengers flying from London's Gatwick Airport a return fare to the island for as little as ?349 ($611) as part of its World Offers deal. Many locations were featured in the offer, but the response for Bermuda was second-best overall.

Last month, BA launched a daily service between London and Bermuda, that has increased capacity on the route by 40 per cent.

Marie Hilditch, the director of sales at BA's New York office, said a seat sale that ran in Bermuda for a few weeks, offering a $604 return fare to London, as well as discounted fares to destinations further afield, had also generated more than 2,000 extra bookings.

"We are delighted with the success of our Bermuda promotions and we will work hard to ensure that people in the UK and in Europe know what a beautiful vacation spot Bermuda is," Ms Hilditch said.

"The daily flight means it is much more convenient for people travelling to Bermuda from London. Now that we have all this extra capacity, we will work hard to fill it."

Tourism and Transport Minister Ewart Brown was encouraged by the news and optimistic about the BA flight's future.

"We don't have much evidence yet, because the flight has only just started, but we are excited about the initial numbers," Dr. Brown said.

"It does show that if you can reduce the cost of travelling to the destination, you can lure more visitors ? even when the destination is expensive."

The Ministry of Tourism's London office has teamed up with BA to launch an advertising blitz of newspapers and glossy magazines in the UK.