fares which appeared in a top US newspaper.

A US Airways ad in an August edition of The New York Times indicates low price fares to destinations such as Cancun, Grand Cayman, St. Croix, St. Thomas from La Guardia, but nothing to Bermuda.

Return fares to these destinations were all lower than $210 with most of them falling around the $150 mark. At the same time fares to Bermuda ranged from $540 to $845 depending on what time of the week passengers flew.

Tourism Director Gary Phillips put the low prices and the accompanying advertisement down to the airline having a seat sale.

He said: "We would like to think that we have more control over airfares but airlines have to deal with yield management and load factors -- the percentage of seats being sold.

"If this figure is healthy then there won't be a sale.'' He said: "If an airline decides to have a seat sale it is because they want to drive business to that particular destination.

"If the load factors on flights to Bermuda, for example, are good and fit in with their yield management figures then they may decide not have a sale to that destination.

"If the load factors are good, there will not be a sale because the seats are selling.'' He added that Bermuda had special air fares on its US Air, Delta and American flights at different times since February.

In May, fares from Boston on Delta Airlines and American Airlines started at $280 round trip and in July they started at $245 on American and US Airways out of New York.

American is now selling return tickets for mid-week travel out of New York to the Island.

Travellers purchasing tickets by September 12 for travel by either September 30 or November 17 will pay fares starting at $228 and $263 respectively.