THE inaugural Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Bermuda arrives tomorrow and is scheduled to run through August 20, but only on Saturdays.

Flight 1978 is scheduled to depart Detroit at 12.05 EST, arriving in Bermuda at 3.59 p.m., a flight time of two hours and 59 minutes, then leave at 5 p.m. and arrive back in Detroit at 7.22 p.m., a scheduled flight of three hours and 22 minutes.

Those with personal or business reasons to fly to the region may find this new direct flight a considerable improvement on the one-stop and two-stop alternatives that have been available.

Pamela Woodroffe, a resident who operates CC Consulting on the island and Collins Consulting in Ann Arbor in Michigan, some 60 miles from Detroit, is certainly looking forward to using the new service, and hopes that it is successful.

"It will go from being anything from a five- to eight-hour trip to just three hours direct," said Ms Woodroffe, "and the flight times are great. I used to get a 7 a.m. flight to catch the Delta flight in Atlanta, and with this noon departure time, life will be so much easier.

"Without worrying about the connections, it takes so much of the hassle out of travelling. I usually fly via Atlanta or Newark, but the last two times I have flown here, because of de-icing and snow delays, I have missed my connecting flights, and ended up having to overnight in Atlanta."

Ms Woodroffe thought the new flight would make it easier to entice her Michigan friends to visit Bermuda, and that Bermudians wishing to escape the torrid heat of summer might be tempted by this direct flight to the relative cool of northern Michigan.

"Northwest is by far the dominant carrier through Detroit, and this flight could be very popular. All of those people with frequent flier miles are looking for somewhere different to go, and Bermuda could be that place.

"And Michigan is beautiful in summer ? in northern Michigan there are lakes to fish and swim in, affordable golf courses, lovely cottages up north to stay in. Bermudians may want to go on vacation via Detroit to escape the summer heat."