American Airlines will operate a second flight between Bermuda and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, starting on February 15.

Flight 1428 will depart JFK at 12 noon and arrive in Bermuda at 3.00pm. The return flight will leave Bermuda at 4.00pm arriving in New York at 5.35pm.

The service will operate every day except Tuesdays until March 3 when it will be daily.

Already AA offers a flight to New York early in the morning and a return early evening.

“We are pleased that American Airlines looked at the performance of its Bermuda-New York service and determined that there was a real opportunity to expand on it,” said Shawn Crockwell, Minister of Tourism Development and Transport.

“Our business and leisure travellers have expressed a desire for more options during the winter, and we believe this new service offers that. It is imperative that we see an increased number of such travellers in order for the new flight to perform well.”

The late-afternoon arrival into JFK will provide passengers a connection to American’s several early evening departures to London. The airline’s new Boeing 777 fleet also serves other UK and European destinations, which should be useful to both business and other travellers, added Mr Crockwell.

American’s announcement comes just a few months after United Airlines opted to reinstate its winter service out of Newark.

“Many airlines understandably reduce their winter schedules to Bermuda in response to the lower demand during the non-peak season. However, these newly added winter flights guarantee that there are a sufficient number of available seats to accommodate any potential growth, primarily out of New York, our largest market,” said Aaron Adderly, Airport General Manager.

“It is important that the new American service along with all of our existing flights, are ultimately successful as this paves the way for new, additional flights in the future as hopefully, demand grows,” he added.