Air arrivals up for second quarter

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5: Low cost airline AirTran has been credited with a boost in visitor arrivals from the US in the second quarter of the year.

Air arrivals to Bermuda from America rose 7 per cent to 61,232 passengers between April and June.

Government statisticians said the increase was due to AirTran’s daily flights from Atlanta and Baltimore.

The total number of air arrivals rose 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2011 - 80,462, compared to 77,512 in the same period last year.

Arrivals from the UK increased by 1.4 per cent compared to the second quarter in 2010, while arrivals from all other countries increased by 5.9 per cent.

Tourist arrivals by air from Canada, however, dropped by nearly 13 per cent – said to be a result of WestJet reducing its flight service from daily to three times a week.

The increase in air arrivals meant a 3.8 per cent rise in bookings at tourist accommodation.

Resort hotels registered an 8.2 per cent increase in bookings, while housekeeping accommodation rose by 5.3 per cent over the same period.

Bookings at small hotels went up by 4 per cent and the numbers opting for guesthouses rose by 1.8 per cent.

The amount of people staying in private homes, however, went down by 3.9 per cent.

The statistics for the second quarter also show that hotels took $82 million and nearly 2500 people worked in the hospitality sector.