Flight cutbacks announced this week have highlighted a need for Government to come up with a "long-term airlift strategy'', the Opposition said yesterday.

That strategy should include looking into the possibility of more charter flights to the Island and a privately owned Bermuda airline, according to Shadow Tourism Minister Mr. David Allen.

"The United Bermuda Party Government is living from one crisis to the next when it comes to airlift,'' Mr. Allen charged. "And this has been going on long since the demise of Pan Am and Eastern (Airlines).'' Mr. Allen warned that with last summer's fare wars and consumer confidence still low, Bermuda was likely to see more flight cutbacks.

His comments were made on the heels of USAir's decision to cancel its Bermuda service out of Charlotte, North Carolina and United Airlines' axing of its Dulles, Washington service.

Anxiety has also been sparked over cash-hit American Airlines announcement this week that it was reviewing its routes. Tourism officials fear the airline will slash its daily flights to the Island out of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

Mr. Allen noted the cutbacks had come just as the Island was gearing up for its peak tourism season.

He pointed out Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham were critical mid-Atlantic hubs, serving some very affluent areas.

Their combined loss -- together with Dulles which serves Washington and Virginia -- would leave Bermuda with no service out of the Carolinas, he said.

USAir local manager Mr. Herbie Siggins said the Charlotte service was cancelled due to insufficient demand.

He said the decision was made at the end of last year -- though it was only announced this week by the Tourism Ministry.

"It was a marketing decision based on passenger loads,'' Mr. Siggins said.

"The amount of business anticipated did not materialise.'' The service was started up in the summer of 1992 on a trial basis, he said.

Mr. Siggins added, however, that the route was being replaced with a service out of Boston starting April 4 and which USAir officials believed would prove "highly successful''.

Tourism officials disclosed on Tuesday they had approved charter services out of Dulles now that there was no scheduled service out of the gateway.

But Mr. Allen said the Tourism Ministry had "woke up too late'', having been too restrictive in the past over charter flights.

He said Government should consider allowing more charter flights from gateways where there was enough demand.

Mr. Allen said the PLP did not share Government's concerns that charter flights would bring in a poorer class of visitors.

"They're (charter flights) better than nothing -- even if they are irregular,'' he said. "Obviously we don't think (the Tourism Ministry) should open up the floodgates to charters but they could be more flexible.'' Mr. Allen also criticised Government for "discarding'' proposals by four groups for a Bermuda airline.

Considering the ongoing uncertainty over airlift to the Island, Mr. Allen said, Government should have at least given the four groups some encouragement in their proposals.

Mr. David Allen MP.