BermudAir has made an economic investment of almost $100 million in added economic benefits to the island, spending that benefits multiple sectors, its founder said.

Adam Scott, the chief executive of the carrier, said the figure is tied to the economic value which the Bermuda Tourism Authority attributes to each incoming passenger delivered by the carrier.

He said: “We extrapolate how many passengers we’ve flown, those who we brought to the island, and then we just apply that matrix to that which the BTA has established. And that of course is the attributable economic value of each of those passengers.”

Mr Scott added that “the real critical element” of the economic benefit lies in the revenues from the airline, which he said are largely spent in Bermuda.

He explained: “There are over 120 staff that we have here in Bermuda, [that] take their income which they spend here.

“The pilots we have, they are based here, they are using the buses, the taxis, they are all part of the community.

“There is a huge economic benefit there because we are based here, everything we do is here in Bermuda.

“It is not only the fact that our team is based here, but it is also because we go to great lengths to ensure all that we do, such as the on-board catering, is procured right here in Bermuda.”

As the carrier celebrates its second anniversary this month, Mr Scott said that the company aims “to be as Bermudian as we can possibly be”.

He added: “That involves procuring goods and services right here in Bermuda as well.”

The businessman said that more than 50 per cent of the airline’s staff are Bermudians and that part of building the carrier since its launch in September 2023 was a commitment to invest in locals.

“We committed to employing as many Bermudians as possible and so a lot of our frontline staff, our cabin crew — who I genuinely think are the best in the industry — are Bermudians,” he said.

He added: “We’ve hired Bermudians, who we then invest in, to train them on how to be qualified flight attendants or cabin crew.

“We actually, as a company, decided to make a conscious decision to go out to actively find and to promote and to develop this fantastic resource.

“Our greatest resource, which is our staff here on island.”

Mr Scott said the airline has an ambitious plan to provide 50 new jobs to strengthen its staff and that those jobs will be primarily based at LF Wade International Airport.

The airline’s top travel market falls under its “BermudAir Holidays” concept — a vacation packaging service.

It offers year-round curated flight-and-hotel packages and tailored vacation experiences for individuals, couples and families.

Mr Scott said the number-one market under the concept inbound to Bermuda was in Richmond, Virginia.

He said the package is attractively priced and the concept is working well with the airline’s partners in the hotel industry.

Mr Scott added: “It really helps to build demand to Bermuda in the off season and the shoulder season, which gets to my point of year-round service and getting people into Bermuda, and making it accessible.

“Bermuda is the closest palm tree island to North America and so we are actively bringing those travellers.

“We are creating markets that haven’t otherwise existed previously.

“We’ve got to get more people here and we are working to be the carrier of choice for people from here and those who want to get here.”

Mr Scott said the airline is also facilitating more business to the island for the business community and foresees travel options evolving to become “more exciting” in the future.

As part of its expansion plans, the airline is preparing to run flights to the Caribbean island of Anguilla from the US cities of Boston and Baltimore from December 19.

The flights will be offered by AnguillAir, a new brand under its umbrella and Mr Scott said preparations for the service “have been going exceptionally well”.

He added: “We have had an exceptional level of support from Anguilla.

“I think what’s important with that, is that Bermuda does have a seasonality challenge and people think you only go to Bermuda in the months of May, June, July and August.

“The reality is Bermuda is a fabulous place to be all year round.”

Mr Scott said that part of his commitment to the community is to ensure that people can come to the island in every season.

He explained: “We are committed to providing year-round connectivity as much as possible so that it actually improves the quality of life here of people.

“There is this season of drop off, where other airlines will just decide to stop service at certain points of the year.

“We have this commitment and in order to make it work and for us to grow long term, we have to look at other options at how we can best manage our aircraft utilisation, and how we can get to a place where we have some economies of scale and where we can grow this business.

“Pursuing other markets like Anguilla means that we can continue to grow and it means we can bring more and more people here to Bermuda.”

Asked if there were any plans to make direct flights to the Caribbean islands from Bermuda, Mr Scott said those options can be considered.

However, he said such moves will be based on demands from travellers.