The island’s air traffic showed “good, positive” growth of 11 per cent over the past two years, an analyst said yesterday.

Edmond Rose, a consultant with British-based Aviation Services Management, also noted “lots of opportunities” for the sector to expand.

The disclosure came in a keynote address to the inaugural Air Connectivity Summit hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation in collaboration with the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Government at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club today.

Mr Rose told the gathering: “Bermuda has plenty of capacity, particularly in the non-peak months.

“There are still lots of opportunities for people to come to this island and perhaps when the Fairmont [Southampton] opens up this year, we will see more people coming and filling those seats.”

Air capacity continues to rise, he told attendees, and in a forecast for the first half of 2026, there were about 1,500, or 6 per cent, more airline seats scheduled to be filled compared with the same period last year.

The aviation expert singled out BermudAir’s contribution to growth, noting the carrier’s plans to establish its subsidiary, AnguillAir, as a boost for winter travel.

The gathering, which included regional ministers of tourism, airline representatives and tourism experts, heard that Chicago was “the largest” unserved US destination.

Mr Rose said the Midwest US city had “good potential” for origin and destination travel as well as for connecting traffic.

Attendees were told Aviation Services Management compiled a comprehensive study last summer for the Caribbean Tourism Organisation on regional travel, which found that high airport costs prevented greater movement within the Caribbean.

In some instances, taxes and charges amounted to more than half the return fare for trips — such as a flight between Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Mr Rose said reducing the taxes would stimulate travel and economic benefits.

He told of capacity gaps with no direct conduits for passenger traffic between global destinations and the Caribbean.

However, the study found that several Caribbean countries, such as the Turks & Caicos, have seen “huge capacity growth” in recent years.

Mr Rose said the Trinidad & Tobago-based carrier Caribbean Airlines, along with Inter-Caribbean Airways, based in the Turks & Caicos, had grown capacity strongly across the region since the folding of the carrier LIAT (1974) Ltd in 2024.

He urged the CTO to create a connectivity support fund to stimulate new routes and reward connecting traffic growth.

Mr Rose also called on governments to provide regulatory support for connectivity, such as “immigration easing”.