Only a week after British Airways was criticised for the high cost of a ticket to fly from London to Bermuda the airline has announced it is now selling return flights from Gatwick for $553 including taxes.

The sudden drop in price amounts to almost a halving of the previous ticket cost.

But customers will have to be quick to take advantage of the offer, which is available on flights throughout the summer until the end of September, because the cheap deal tickets on UK originating flights can only be purchased until midnight tonight. Tourism Minister Ewart Brown was critical of BA at the end of June when he said the high cost of the London-Bermuda route was ?indefensible? and beyond justification, particularly in light of the fact that flying the route in reverse from Bermuda to London was significantly cheaper.

Asked on Friday if he thought the price cut came in response to his criticisms, Dr. Brown said: ?I have no way of knowing but it suits our needs and we appreciate the change.?

Attracting more visitors to the Island from the UK and other parts of Europe is a key strategy in the Department of Tourism?s drive to rejuvenate Bermuda?s tourism industry, but the restrictive cost of the UK flights has been viewed as a hurdle to that goal. When BA executive vice president Robin Hayes visited the Island at the end of June he admitted the company had taken some flak for charging higher fares for those departing from Gatwick to visit Bermuda on BA?s daily flight.

The British Airways summer offer is open to ticket purchasers wishing to fly return from Gatwick providing they book before midnight on July 11.

And it?s not only BA who have dropped their prices to encourage more visitors to Bermuda this week, United Airways is now running a sale on its newly established flights from Washington Dulles Airport to Bermuda. Travelling on Tuesday or Thursdays the round trip is $240 with $57 taxes on top, representing a saving of more than $140 on rival airlines. The United offer runs through until September 5.