special charter service aimed specifically at Bermuda's international businesses.

The trips, marketed under the title "Corporate Flights'', are being offered at a rate of $850 per hour and can last between 18 minutes and an hour, in increments of six minutes.

That is cheaper than the $1,040 per hour rate charged to the public, who pay $65 each for a ride which lasts approximately 15 minutes. The helicopter carries four passengers.

Pilot Mr. Michael Smatt, who owns Bermuda Helicopters, said: "We're targetting exempted company executives who are seeking different ways of entertaining their clients. We've already had a tremendous response from businessmen.'' Prospective purchasers of property who wanted a better view of what they are contemplating buying before parting with their money were providing an unexpected boon, he said.

"It's unbelievable the amount of business I'm getting from people looking for somewhere to reside,'' he said. "We've leased the aircraft for a six month period so it is too early for us to have paid off all our costs.

"But the venture is meeting every expectation that we had. It's definitely holding its own.'' Mr. Smatt said that "99 percent'' of his customers had learned about his business from reading the letters page of The Royal Gazette , which has carried many readers' letters recently criticising the nuisance and noise level of the helicopter, although some have also praised it.

Mr. Michael Smatt.