With this new flight from RDU, Bermuda got a lot closer to the Triangle
Lydia and Rom Dickens fly between their home in Bermuda and Raleigh-Durham International Airport frequently to visit family. They have long wished for a nonstop flight.
“In fact, I prayed for it,” Lydia Dickens said. “Maybe others prayed, too.”
Those prayers were answered when BermudAir announced last fall that it would begin flying nonstop between RDU and L.F. Wade International Airport in St. George, Bermuda. The Dickenses were on the inaugural flight to Bermuda on Friday morning.
“Very easy,” Lydia said. “We’re so happy it’s here.”
Bermuda is one of a record 15 international destinations from RDU, and BermudAir one of an unprecedented 19 airlines doing business at the airport. Co-founder Marty Amick says sales for the RDU flights have been good so far.
“We wouldn’t go to a market if we didn’t expect it to be successful,” said Amick, who flew home to Bermuda from RDU Friday. “Sometimes we’ve been disappointed, but not here.”
The Bermuda flights operate Fridays and Mondays and take just over two hours. Those flight times mean Triangle residents can fly nonstop to Bermuda for either a week or a long weekend, said Michael Landguth, RDU’s president and CEO.
“You can leave on Friday about 10:30 in the morning, be there about 1 o’clock, be on the beach by about 1:30, and you can be back here about 9:30 Monday morning,” Landguth said. “It’s a great trip pattern. It’s a great location most people don’t know about.”
Landguth likens BermudAir to another airline that few Triangle residents knew until a few years ago, IcelandAir. It began nonstop flights between RDU and Iceland in May 2022 and has built a following. This summer, the carrier will operate those flights seven days a week.
Nonstop flights expected to boost travel to Bermuda
BermudAir is a young airline, making its debut in September 2023. It now flies between the British island nation and 10 cities in the U.S. and three in Canada. The carrier uses 71-seat Embraer E175 aircraft, which limit how far it can fly profitably, Amick said.
“Two hours is kind of our sweet spot,” he said. “We’re looking for communities that have a vibrant population, where there’s enough people who want to travel and they’re underserved.”
BermudAir will soon have larger 96-seat jets and has ordered Airbus A220s that will allow it to fly to Europe, Amick said.
Landguth said nonstop flights will increase travel between the Triangle and Bermuda. When Aeromexico began flying nonstop to Mexico City last July 1, the number of people going from RDU to Mexico’s capital increased 47% through December compared to the same period a year before, according to the airport.
Before Friday, about 43 people flew between RDU and Bermuda each week on average, Landguth said. Like the Dickenses, all of them made connections through hub airports in places like Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York or Atlanta.
“It’s usually a full day,” Rom Dickens said. “It’s typically a laborious process.”
Amick said initially a majority of BermudAir’s passengers started their trips in Bermuda. Now, he said, about 60% of round trips originate in the United States.
“So that’s a real success for us,” he said. “We’re bringing people to Bermuda. We hope that continues here as well.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 5:03 PM.
