BermudAir is pricing return tickets on its business-class aircraft in the $2,000 range, although fares through the end of October will be heavily discounted.

A seat on one of its flights ultimately will cost three to four times as much as a seat on a regular commercial flight, but less than a first-class ticket and less than transportation on a private aircraft.

The new carrier, which will eventually offer 1x1 seating for 30 passengers in Embraer E175 jets, started taking reservations yesterday on bermudair.com.

It is initially offering flights between Bermuda and three airports on the US East Coast: Fort Lauderdale, Boston and Westchester County Airport, which is about 30 miles north of midtown Manhattan.

Flying Bermuda to Westchester in September will cost $498 return, according to bermudair.com. This is for the airline’s “light” class of service, which includes one free bag up to 70lb in weight and date changes for $100, but the ticket is non-refundable.

That compares favourably with the pricing for tickets on larger carriers — such as Delta Air Lines and JetBlue — to New York-area airports, with pricing for restrictive round-trip tickets the same week costing between $310 and $500.

In November, BermudAir prices quadruple. Return tickets in the "light“ class to Westchester County Airport are $1,998, with pricing similar on other routes.

This compares with between $2,526 and $3,686 for a first-class ticket on Delta Air Lines between Bermuda and New York’s JFK in September, and about $20,000 for a private jet that carries six people, according to an estimate from privatejets.com.

Two other classes are being offered by BermudAir: “classic” with two checked bags, cancellation for credit and free changes; and “flex”, with three free bags, free cancellation and free changes.

A flex return ticket to Westchester after the promotion period will cost $2,638, in line with a first-class airfare on Delta.

The first scheduled flights to Westchester and Boston are on August 31 and to Fort Lauderdale on September 25.

Six days-a-week service is being offered to the three destinations, with the flight to Boston leaving Bermuda at 7.50am and returning at 9.50am, and the flight to Westchester County Airport leaving at 3.55pm and returning at 6pm.

An additional Westchester flight will be added later.

BermudAir will be operating two leased Embraer E175 aircraft. They were formerly used by Flybe, a British airline that went out of business in January.

At first, the aircraft will have the standard 88-seat configuration, but only 40 seats will be sold per flight, allowing passengers to have both a window and an aisle seat. The jets will be later retrofitted with the 30-seat configuration.

Each passenger will then have their own window, considerable personal space to use and a certain degree of privacy.

The first BermudAir jet arrived on the island on Saturday decorated with a colourful, aquatic-themed livery.

BermudAir has been billed as the island’s first airline. Company founder Adam Scott, a Canadian banker who is also chief executive at Odyssey Airlines, owns half of BermudAir.