The One Bermuda Alliance has questioned whether the Government’s promise to have a replacement airline flying between Boston and Bermuda this month was “a ploy”.

Susan Jackson, the Shadow Minister of Tourism, asked in a statement yesterday what had happened to the airline, which Lawrence Scott, who was dismissed as transport minister last month, had previously said was in the works.

Her statement came as The Royal Gazette learned that airport operator Skyport is working on longer-term plans to bring new flights to the island from smaller airports such as Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut. Skyport said it was anticipated these flights would occur two or three times a week.

Separately, Ms Jackson noted that in last year’s Throne Speech, the Government had said it had “injected the Transport Ministry into the airline industry to pursue air service development policies to secure increased airlift from traditional gateway cities and connectivity for Bermuda”.

Ms Jackson said: “Another year has passed, and the 2022 Throne Speech made no mention of progress on any airline services. Bermuda residents and visitors remain stranded without direct air service to the popular Boston gateway city from November until the spring of 2023.

She added: “This omission from the Throne Speech leaves the community wondering if the recently announced Bermuda-based airline was just a ploy.

“Before his departure, previous transport minister Lawrence Scott stated the Government was anticipating making an announcement the end of October/beginning of November.”

She called on the new transport minister, Wayne Furbert, to provide an update on Bermuda-based airline Coral Jet, with a proposed solution for direct service to Boston.

She added: “It’s fair to say a number of travellers from seniors to students and the sick travelling to Boston for medical treatment remain at the mercy of connecting flights and very early morning departures.”

In a separate interview last week, Skyport commercial director Ken Hassard said the priority for all airport stakeholders was to restore winter service to Boston as soon as possible and to have direct service to both Boston and Newark for the next winter season.

According to him, United Airlines is scheduled to resume its direct service to Newark in March, as a test to possibly extend the season further.

In the longer term, he said, Bermuda could have flights to Providence and Hartford along with many more small city destinations in the future.

He said these flights may be offered by airlines separate from larger commercial carriers such as Delta or American Airlines.

These smaller and lower-cost airlines, which he said could not be identified at this time, will have less seating capacity and may only fly to the island two or three times a week.

Mr Hassard said: “[These aircraft] have a better chance of filling planes every time that they fly, which is why their business models are so successful.”

Skyport, the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Bermuda Airport Authority determined that the proposed routes would be a perfect blend between bringing more visitors to Bermuda and enabling Bermudians to fly to appealing destinations.

“Because of the strong insurance business here, a lot of Bermudians would like to fly to Hartford and there is a strong Portuguese and Azorean community in Rhode Island,” he said.

According to zipatlas, more than 4 per cent of Providence’s total population is Portuguese or Azorean, while nearby towns in southeastern Massachusetts such as Fall River and New Bedford have large populations of Portuguese descent.

Skyport plans to offer incentives to airlines that offer new routes to and from the island, he said.

Mr Hassard said: “Incentives are only supposed to be given for new routes, because the cost of starting a new route is a risk to the airline and they could always start [the new route] somewhere else.

“[The airport’s incentives] take the form of waiving or providing discounts on the aeronautical fees paid for by the airlines. This mainly means landing fees. The airlines like that [incentive], because it reduces their risk.”

He added that these discussions are in their very early stages and may take several years to come to fruition.