Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess gave a progress report on the taking over by Government of Airport operations Friday and outlined some new money-making schemes to cover the costs that are currently absorbed by the US Navy.

Bermuda International Airport, as the new facility will be called, is set to come under Bermudian hands on June 1.

Mr. Burgess said that the Government's two-pronged plan of maintaining current safety and efficiency standards at the Airport and ensuring that as many Bermudians as possible fill the available positions at the facility was unfolding as expected.

He added that the two main contract holders at the Airport -- Canadian companies Serco Aviation Services Inc. and YVR -- were being particularly helpful in the area of Bermudianisation.

"We have been favourably impressed with Serco's ability and track record in training Bermudians,'' Mr. Burgess said, adding that YVR, the company that runs the Vancouver International Airport Authority, has seen that Bermudian understudies have been placed alongside current employees in the various areas of operation for which it is responsible.

The Minister could not say, however, when those understudies might be ready to take over.

In outlining the costs that Bermudians will face as the new operators of the Airport, Mr. Burgess said that the newly created Air Transport Department will have a budget for 1995-96 of $18.4 million, a rise of nearly 300 percent over 1994-95.

Some $4.6 million, Mr. Burgess said, would be spent to operate the Civil Air Terminal, while $13.8 million have been earmarked for the new costs that Bermuda is to inherit.

Those expenses include air traffic control, crash and fire rescue and ground electronic maintenance.

In trying to make the absorption of the costs as painless as possible for Bermudians, Mr. Burgess said, Government has decided on a number of revenue-raising strategies, including increasing landing fees at the Airport and upping the cost of leases there.

The Transport Minister said that he expected a $700,000 increase in Airport revenues overall.

Mr. Burgess, who told the Assembly that travellers should see "no difference'' in the way the Airport is operated once the US Navy pulls out, also outlined the 1995-96 budget for the Island's Transport Control Department.

Revealing that it would increase by 15 percent to $1.7 million, the Minister commended the Department on the 400 daily bus trips it provides to its approximately three-and-a-half-million passengers a year.

He also praised Bermudians as a whole for their increased use of the Island's ferries and applauded Harbour Radio for its "state of the art'' search and rescue facilities.

Marine and Ports Services was allocated some $8.7 million.

Shadow transportation minister Mr. Dennis Lister , meanwhile, made an issue of one particular transport hike: the recent increase in vehicle licence fees.

Said the MP: "If we really want to see how the Budget will impact the average man on the street, we must look at the increase in fees over a two-year period because the average man hasn't had an increase in his wages during that time.'' Calling the increase a contradiction of the Finance Minister's claim that the February Budget spared "the little man,'' Mr. Lister compared the increase in average wages over the past 12 years with the corresponding increases in vehicle licensing fees.

"The highest (fee) increase is some 76.5 percent for the licensing of a vehicle,'' he told the Assembly, "while the lowest was 11.2 percent.

"Has the average man in the street,'' he asked, "had an increase of 76.5 percent in his wages? Is he able to absorb this type of increase?'' Mr. Lister, an MP for Sandys North, also wondered why the Government had not restored the number of Somerset ferry runs to previous levels when ferry revenues had increased by 50 percent in 1994 and were expected to increase by another 50 percent this year.

"If we are to understand that the saving of expenses was a prime reason for the cutting of those runs, surely a 100-percent increase (over the past two years) can absorb a seven-percent decrease (in past and projected expenditure),'' Mr. Lister said.

"Surely a 100-percent increase in revenues versus a seven-percent decrease in expenditure warrants more early morning and late evening ferries for the West End.'' The MP also called for a permanent transportation secretary to reflect the increased size of the Ministry.

Ministry of Transport, 1995/96 Estimates Ministry responsibility: "To supervise transportation systems in Bermuda.'' Budget estimate: $37,016,000 (Last year: $20,841,000) Budget Allocation Marine and Ports Services $8,746,000 Airport Operations $18,437,000 Transport Control Department $1,687,000 Public Transportation Department $6,095,000 Transport Headquarters $300,000 Civil Aviation $1,751,000 Revenue: $28,415,000 (Last year: $22,718,000)