RIC adds first international flights in a decade with direct routes to Bermuda

One of BermudAir’s Embraer E175 aircraft. (Photos courtesy Richmond International Airport)

For the first time in a decade, international flights will arrive and depart from Richmond International Airport. 

Direct flights from Richmond to Bermuda will begin in late spring through BermudAir, a 2-year-old airline based in Bermuda, a British overseas territory about 650 miles off the Eastern Seaboard. The flights will go between RIC and Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport. 

The roughly two-hour flights will run Wednesdays and Saturdays, and RIC spokesman Troy Bell said the service will be year-round. The first flight will depart Richmond on June 7. 

Bermuda is a 21-square-mile archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

The last time international flights went in and out of RIC was 2013, when direct service to Toronto ended. 

The Bermuda announcement Thursday coincided with Breeze Airways’ launch of service from Richmond to New Haven, Connecticut.

Bell said competition among airports for new routes is tight, with markets vying for a limited amount of flights. 

“Airlines and airports both have access to data, so we already know what demand looks like with the current service patterns that are out there,” Bell said. He added that airlines will look for markets that are in good proximity, compatible with their aircraft and familiar with the destination. 

“(Airlines) start looking at what are the best matches for that. So we try to stand out. We’re competing with every other potential community for a very finite amount of seats for flights. It’s pretty competitive,” Bell said. 

Last month, RIC reported flight volume hit new annual records in 2024. Passenger traffic exceeded 4.88 million for the calendar year, while cargo volume reached 222.8 million pounds, surpassing totals for the 12-month fiscal period that ended last June.

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