BermudAir orders 10 Airbus A220 planes as part of expansion plan

By David Shepardson

FARNBOROUGH, England July 22 (Reuters) - BermudAir is ordering 10 Airbus A220 airplanes as it plans new routes to Bermuda, Anguilla, Belize, and Turks and Caicos, the startup airline said Wednesday.

"The performance characteristics of the A220 enable us to open up more markets and to expand our footprint," BermudAir CEO and founder Adam Scott said in an interview, adding the airline plans to more than double its current 11 routes by the end of the year.

The order for A220-300 was signed at the Farnborough airshow. The carrier serving Bermuda has been in operation since 2023. BermudAir said it plans to add up to 20 A220 aircraft by 2030 and eventually replace its Embraer 190 fleet.

BermudAir faces competition from U.S. carriers such as JetBlue, American and United on New York flights, but some of the new routes do not have significant competition.

Scott said the carrier is focused on improving the experience of customers.

"We're winning those customers because we actually just do something that is that's very different," Scott said.

The new routes include six to Turks and Caicos, with service from Newark, Boston, Baltimore-Washington, Raleigh-Durham, Fort Lauderdale and St Petersburg/Tampa, and five new routes to Belize. The airline is also expanding seasonal service to Anguilla.

The airline plans to add wifi, which its current planes do not have.

Starting an airline is not easy, he added. "You've got to be very determined. You got to be committed to it," Scott said. "It's steady wins the race."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Joe Bavier and Andrew Heavens)