A company which hoped to start running luxury ?boutique airline? flights between Bermuda and London this month is still awaiting the approval of the UK Government to launch the service.

Fly First Class ? which is operated by FlyJet ? was reported last year to be planning to start the service between the Island and Stansted Airport in the UK in April 2006.

The company?s website, www.flyfirstclass.biz, still states that flights between London and Bermuda on Mondays and Thursdays and between London and Bermuda and Bermuda and Wilmington, North Carolina, on Fridays and Sundays will be launched in the first quarter of this year.

But the UK?s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed yesterday that an application from FlyJet to change its operator?s licence to include long haul was still being processed.

The Fly First Class internet site states that the flights will start in the first quarter ?pending final government approval? and that fares will start at $599, though they could be higher for the Bermuda/London route.

Last December, the Wilmington Star newspaper reported Darrell Richardson, chief executive officer of Fly First Class, as saying the company hoped to start the flights in April. But yesterday Fly First Class?s executive vice-president Gabrielle Griswold told she could not comment on a possible delay to the launch. ?Unfortunately, I have been asked not to make any comment,? she said.

A spokesman for the UK?s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said: ?FlyJet does have an operator?s licence in the UK; however, this licence would need to be changed to include the longer haul operations, such as Bermuda.

?We do have an application in from the airline for that which is being worked on. In most cases, if there is a delay to the application, this is due to the CAA requesting further information of the airline or the airline still needing to put the required infrastructure or arrangements into place.?

Carl Paiva, chief executive officer of C-Travel, Fly First Class?s travel agent in Bermuda, said: ?We are still not there. The application is in with the CAA so effectively there are still absolute plans to move ahead.

?We are just going through the normal paperwork. We had hoped it would be the first quarter. Once all the paperwork is done properly then obviously the management team will get together to go to the next steps. There is no timeframe but the vision is still there and the reality is still there from the point of view of the application.?

An operator at Quicker Tix in New York, which sells airline tickets for C-Travel, said flights were originally scheduled to start on April 20.

Airport General Manager James Howes said: ?I understand that they still require the approval of the UK Government to fly their proposed route to Bermuda.?

The Florida-based company is expected to target both the business and leisure markets with the service. It will use a Boeing 767 wide-body aircraft with first, business and suite classes.

The website says first class passengers will be able to ?travel like the movie stars? with six-course menus and a complimentary open bar. Suite class is for the ?price conscious? and offers three-course menus and complimentary cocktails with food.