BRITISH Airways district manager Philip Troake will end more than four decades of working for the airline when he quits the company at the end of June.

The realisation of a goal that Mr. Troake has spent the last 15 years fighting for ? the establishment of a daily service between Bermuda and London ? was a major contributing factor to his decision.

"It has taken since 1991 to get to where we are now," Mr. Troake said yesterday. "When we stopped flying to destinations down south from Bermuda, I said I saw no reason why the island should not be able to support a daily service.

"It was certainly a long process and I'm confident that the daily service will be a great success. That is indicated by the figures so far and forward bookings are good."

The daily flight started on March 29 and is scheduled to run until October.

"Now seems the right time to go," Mr. Troake said. "But I will really miss working with a great team of people at BA."

Mr. Troake first started working for BA as a teenager in the catering department, at a time when his father also worked for the airline as station accountant. It was supposed to be a summer job before he went to university, but he has stayed with BA for 41 years.

He went on to work as a check-in attendant and then managed the cargo department before he took charge of BA's Bermuda operation in 1986.

Mr. Troake oversaw the huge changes that came with the transformation of BA from a state-owned company into a much leaner and more competitive private organisation.

And he also fought to ensure that Bermuda remained a BA destination when the slump in air travel that followed the Gulf War of 1991 began to bite into profits.

Mr. Troake, who turns 60 later this year, said he had no intention of leaving his native Bermuda.

"I have no plans yet, but I will be looking to do something else," Mr. Troake said. "Bermuda has a lot to offer and I'm looking forward to a new challenge."