Ground-breaking $49 airline tickets from New York and Boston to Bermuda have been hailed a success after bringing more than 5,000 visitors to the Island since the promotion started two months ago.

The TNT Vacations-operated scheduled flights have given visitors coming from North America the chance to buy tickets costing $49 each-way to visit the Island.

Bermudians have not been able to buy the cheap tickets in the reverse direction because of the nature of the promotion, which has been subsidised by Government as part of a drive to increase visitor numbers to the Island.

Tourism Minister Ewart Brown said he was extremely satisfied with the visitor numbers from the twice-weekly service which are now beyond the 5,000 mark.

So far there have been 3,156 visitors from Boston and 1,889 from New York. The flights continue until this Sunday and seats are still available for North American visitors.

The 189-seat plane has been operating every Sunday and Thursday from Boston and New York.