until next year.

The news came yesterday from Spirit spokesman Mark Kahan who told The Royal Gazette that getting start up permission for the run between Atlantic City, New Jersey and Bermuda took longer than expected.

"Fundamentally, we have done all we needed to do to have Government approval.

However, this took longer to accomplish than we had anticipated.'' Regretfully, he continued, this had led the airline to postpone its service until March 1, 1998.

And this date had still to be finalised, he added, although that was expected to happen soon.

Spirit was first scheduled to begin servicing the Island on May 15 but this was postponed to June 12 and then June 26.

Bermuda would be the airline's first international destination for its gambling and leisure flights.

"We do not want to have a misfire. We understand Bermuda is a high end destination and this is something that we want to do right or not at all.

"The time available for this season is not sufficient for us to do a job that we would be proud of.'' The airline planned to offer an evening flight every day of the week besides Tuesdays and Wednesdays and this had not changed, said Mr. Kahan.

"We have a reputation for being a low fare carrier,'' he added.

Rates for the airline are expected to start at around $140 for one-way travel -- before taxes -- between Atlantic City and Bermuda although there would be lower introductory fares when the airline started service.

It is understood that the introductory price for a round trip ticket from Atlantic City to Bermuda would cost $189.

Spirit was looking at attracting US travellers based in and around Atlantic City and travellers in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Boston where Spirit also offered service.

The airline has adjusted its schedules to allow passengers arriving in Atlantic City from these destinations to connect to Bermuda.

Spirit delays service until next year And it was also looking at getting Bermudians to travel on its aircraft to Atlantic City and on to its other destinations as well, if they wish, said Mr.

Kahan.

The airline worked in conjunction with casinos, he noted, as its predecessor -- Charter One -- also did.

"We hope to attract good two way traffic. We will be offering Bermudians various kinds of packages where they can come to Atlantic City and spend a couple of nights at a casino if they like.

Frequent customers, he continued, would be able to qualify for special rates and other deals.

"We have been doing this for many years and we have a lot of experience.

"We are assuming there will be such a market. No-one has tried it before.'' Government was not consulted on the plan to allow a discount airline to fly into Bermuda from a US gambling hot spot, Tourism Minister David Dodwell revealed in the House of Assembly on June 6.

He said he was surprised by the news that Spirit would be starting service as it was unusual that the company got approval from US and UK authorities before Bermuda was notified.

These countries had the legal right to negotiate the deal as Britain controls such matters for Bermuda since its still a British Colony but Mr. Dodwell said it would have been nice if both sides at least contacted Bermuda during the negotiations.

Mr. Kahan said the situation was unfortunate and if a bad perception of the airline had been left because of it then that had to be corrected.

"We are very anxious to work with the Bermudian authorities,'' he said.

Spirit is Atlantic City's only scheduled jet carrier and also flies to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Myrtle Beach and Fort Myers.

Its fleet contains 12 DC-9s with an average age of 24 years and it plans to add three more DC-9s.