running the Airport, Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons reported to the House of Assembly on Friday.

He also revealed hiring in air traffic control, rescue, weather and ground mantainance departments had almost been completed.

But Serco Aviation Services, the overseas firm hired to manage the airport, had difficulty finding enough qualified Bermudians for the available jobs, he said.

However, a number of Bermudians were being sent abroad for training because Government's aim was "to go all the way'' in Bermudianising the Airport.

In the meantime, five non-Bermudians and two local spouses were being hired as air traffic controllers.

Five foreigners were being hired as meteorolgists, although the weather observer department with be all Bermudian (five).

And about 12 of 27 crash and fire rescue positions will go to non-Bermudians on one-year contracts until locals are trained to take over.

Government's goal was a "seamless transition'', meaning aircraft flying to and from the Island "will not experience any difference in the way they are handled by Bermuda Airport'', Dr. Gibbons said.

Dr. Gibbons, updating MPs on progress since his last report two months ago on the military bases takeover, said Serco Aviation Services, which will run the Airport, was nearly finished hiring.

It had received more than 190 applications from Bermudians and spouses of Bermudians for jobs in air traffic control, rescue services, weather forecasting and ground maintenance.

But there were no qualified Bermudians on the air traffic control side, although 50 applied to learn, indicating a strong interest by Bermudians in careers in aviation.

As a result Serco will hire six of the 50 for training at the UK's Bailbrook College.

When they are finished, they will begin replacing seven non-Bermudian controllers, including two Bermudian spouses, who will be on 7-12-month contracts and are due to start training about April.

Last week Serco completed interviewing 17 Bermudians for weather observer positions. Seven will be selected and will begin intensive training on the job in conjunction with Bermuda College.

"Five of them will ultimately be selected as full-time weather observers. And on June 1, the weather observer section will be fully Bermudianised and ready to go,'' Dr. Gibbons said.

Serco received no applications from Bermudians qualified in meteorology. As a result, Serco is scanning 40 trainee applications for people with Bachelor of Science degrees and will send candidates "who fit the bill'' to overseas institutions for post graduate studies to become trained weather forecasters.

In the meantime it has hired five non-Bermudian meteorologists who each have experience working in the Atlantic region and with the US National Hurricane Centre. They will be on the job by May.

In the crash and fire rescue service, Serco expects to hire about 12 qualified Bermudians currently working in the USNAS Fire Department. And it expects to hire 12 more locals out of 50-plus applications from those wanting to be trained in crash and fire rescue.

Their training will start March 6 and they be sent abroad for hands-on crash training experience.

In the meantime, Serco will hire 12 non-Bermudian crash and fire rescue workers on one-year contracts.

Dr. Gibbons added: "We could see a virtually an all-Bermudian crash and fire rescue unit at the airport by August 30 next year''.

"It should be clearly understood that we are committed to Bermudianisation in all phases of Airport operations,'' he said. "Due to training requirements, it will take a few years. But our aim is to go all the way.'' On the issue of new equipment, Dr. Gibbons said while the US Navy had "kindly offered'' to leave Bermuda four 1970 Oshkosh P-4 crash fire rescue trucks, an analysis conducted by his Military Bases Transition Office revealed the planned purchase of three new T-3,000 trucks would save Bermuda roughly $300,000 a year in lower manpower charges.

"In effect we would recover our investment in the T-3,000s in four years. It is our intention to rely on the P-4s until the T-3,000s are fully deployed in August,'' Dr. Gibbons said.

One of the most challenging aspects of the takeover, Dr. Gibbons said, was the infrastructure, which covers the NAS' 268 buildings, airport runways, airfield lighting, sewage, a salt-water supply, roads, even maintenance of the fire trucks.

The minimum three-year contract for those jobs was being decided on from six foreign companies who put in bids and would be announced in the next two weeks.