Taxi drivers have been warned that extra buses will be laid on if there is a repeat of yesterday's chaos at the airport which saw tourists waiting for nearly two hours for a ride.

Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said up to 100 arriving passengers were left in the afternoon heat during the peak arrival period and he would not let it happen again.

He said a contingency plan was in place for delays of more than 15 minutes at the airport but a miscommunication had stopped extra buses being sent.

"The bottom line is we have to meet the unmet transport needs," said Dr. Brown.

Problems were increased by the delay of booked Bermuda Host buses for around 40 passengers who then competed for taxis with the other 50 to 60 waiting passengers, said the Minister.

"Both our Transport Control Department officers were performing their duties at the taxi area but there simply weren't enough taxis immediately available for the heavy volume of passengers arriving simultaneously."

Dr. Brown said a larger pool of ground transport was needed.

"We cannot expect our residents and our visitors to enjoy their arrival in Bermuda if transportation isn't available.

"This was a regrettable set of circumstances.

"It is becoming clear that there are times when the demand for ground transportation is exceeding the taxi fleet's ability to accommodate passenger volume.

"Government is actively looking at ways of being able to supplement transportation to prevent something like this from occurring in the future."