A DIRECT flight between Philadelphia and Bermuda, which was expected to begin next month, has been delayed indefinitely while the airline, USA 3000, searches for aircraft.

As announced by Transport and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown last October, the flights were to begin on Friday, February 11.

Regular service would offer three weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, departing Philadelphia at 4.10 p.m. and arriving in Bermuda at 7.10 p.m. Return flights were scheduled to leave the island at 8.10 p.m., with a 9.30 p.m. arrival. American travellers anticipating the new flight contacted this newspaper shocked to discover that it was not offered on USA 3000's web site. Attempts to place reservations via telephone also proved futile as the airline's salespersons were unaware of its existence.

Anxious to take advantage of the budget airline's lower fares, the travellers inquired of a second USA 3000 flight to Bermuda out of Newark, only to learn that service would be suspended from February 11 until the beginning of May.

Dr. Brown was yesterday off the island and unavailable for comment. An e-mail sent to Tourism director Cherie Whitter seeking clarification of the February 11 start date received no response.

Contacted yesterday, a spokesperson for the airlines said the Philadelphia-Bermuda route was only given the go-ahead by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) last month.

As such, any flight plans announced in October would have stemmed from "a misunderstanding" and most definitely would "not be correct".

"We received DOT approval at the beginning of December but we haven't announced a start date so I wouldn't characterise anything as being delayed," said Trevor Sadler, director of contracts and sales at USA 3000.

Asked where the February 11 start date might have come from, Mr. Sadler said he had no idea.

"There may have been some misunderstanding of intent," he said. "We have advised the Ministry that we have received our DOT approval and we were, at the time of receiving that approval, hopeful of starting service as early as possible in the New Year, subject to the delivery of additional aircraft.

"But we didn't provide an exact date. We simply wouldn't have done, based on the non-availability of aeroplanes. Once we have committed the delivery of an additional aeroplane, that is the time at which we would put forward a date with certainty."

USA 3000 began offering service to Bermuda via Baltimore and Newark in May of 2004. The airline currently has a fleet of 14 aircraft. Increasing that number will enable the additional Bermuda flights, Mr. Sadler said.

"We have a number of initiatives that we're seeking to work on at this moment which includes the delivery of some additional aircraft," he explained. "With respect to where they would operate and the timing (of the flights), those are decisions to be nailed down at that point."

He added that he would be able to determine when the service would initiate "when we're actively looking at the aircraft market in terms of what we can secure and when".

Until then, Mr. Sadler said: "We simply wouldn't want to commit. I'm hoping we don't go too far into the spring to be able to confirm that (date)."

Asked why the airline had suspended its Newark service, Mr. Sadler again cited "aircraft availability" as the problem.

"The Newark flight is not operating from February 11 until May 3 if I remember correctly," he said. "It's simply an aircraft availability issue. We had counted on having additional aeroplanes join us; we were counting on them from a scheduling point of view. Because of those non-deliveries we simply weren't able to continue (that service) whilst meeting our other obligations that we'd set forth."

He promised, however, that once the service resumes in May, it will continue on a year-round basis.

"We've been able to weave it back into the schedule," he said. "We were very pleased about that. I was very disappointed with not being able to run it based on what I characterise as the 'great support' we received from the Bermuda and New York markets."

Despite the setbacks, Mr. Sadler said he remained upbeat regarding USA 3000's affiliation with this island.

"I'm very happy with our services in Bermuda and in turn I think that Bermuda is pretty happy with us. I've personally gone to great lengths to try and work on different avenues to promote our service there.

"And we've seen a very strong response to our service. The Bermudians, in particular, appear to love us based on the fairly significant percentage of Bermuda originating traffic."

USA 3000 currently flies between Baltimore and Bermuda.