A budget airline revealed last night that it had boosted passenger numbers travelling between Bermuda and the UK by almost 20 percent by offering an alternative to British Airways.

Zoom Airlines, which launched its service to the Island from London Gatwick in June, said that statistics for July 2007 showed that overall passenger numbers between the English capital and Bermuda had dramatically increased.

The Scottish no-frills airline said passengers using the new Zoom service accounted for "all of the growth".

It said Zoom carried 2,195 passengers and British Airways carried 9,844 passengers during July 2007, according to UK Civil Aviation Authority figures.

The combined total of passengers for the two airlines for the month is 12,039 — an increase of 1,801 or 17.5 percent from July 2006 when there were 10,238 passengers flying on BA alone. "It's clear that our arrival is bringing great benefits for consumers and Bermuda's tourism industry," said Zoom's managing director Jonathan Hinkles.

He said Zoom now intended to "gear up" its operations to Bermuda after being granted permission to fly a shorter route across the Atlantic, making its journey time from Gatwick about six-and-a-half hours.

"Having obtained the shorter routings, we're now ready to gear up our operations to Bermuda and provide the true competition for which Bermudian customers have waited so long."

The airline has added extra Christmas flights to its schedule. It will fly from London on December 20 and 27 and January 4 and from Bermuda on December 18, January 1 and 8.

Zoom's website — flyzoom.com — had a return flight leaving Bermuda on December 18 and returning on January 7 for $518 last night. A BA flight from Bermuda to London on December 19 and returning on January 5 was priced at $1,078.53 on ba.com.

Zoom is also offering return fares of $399 including taxes and fees to London this month and next.