JetBlue Airlines began its Boston to Bermuda service yesterday with 23 passengers and a touchdown 22 minutes early.

The new route from the low-cost carrier comes one year after the airline began business to Bermuda through its New York hub at John F. Kennedy Airport.

The new direct service from New England could mean big things for tourism, according to Acting Premier Neletha Butterfield.

After the flight landed she told a small gathering the Boston/New England tourist market is the second largest for Bermuda, brining in about 50,000 visitors in 2006.

Plus when JetBlue began flying to Bermuda from JFK in 2006, arrival numbers from New York overall skyrocketed 30 percent above the previous year. Tourism officials hope JetBlue can do the same for Boston with service between May and October.

If nothing else, the carrier’s new service does volumes for bargain hunting travellers.

Fares between the two destinations are as low as $99 each way. And to stay competitive, other carriers are expected to lower their fares as well — one already has.

Airport General Manager Aaron Adderley said: “Often times the competing carriers do have to match. We saw that unfold in New York last year where we had different airlines serving all three major airports in the New York area and each one had to match fares wherever possible.

So the overall effect has been a stimulus to the tune where we’ve seen double digit growth in that particular market. We hope to see the same results in Boston moving forward.”

Ms Butterfield explained that the current economic times for American airlines was precarious and it speaks volumes that JetBlue would not only expand its routes, but expand in Bermuda.

She said: “At a time when airlines are expanding very cautiously in an economic environment, though improving, remains somewhat precarious. It is so gratifying to hear an airline say, ‘despite these uncertainties, we feel Bermuda is a strong and viable market in which to expand.

“It speaks volumes to the confidence our airline partners have in Bermuda and the continued revitalisation of our tourism sector.”

The addition of JetBlue adds about 700 seats per week between Boston’s Logan International Airport and Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport.