the answer to the Island's air woes, it has been claimed.

Known as "regional jets'', the aircraft are becoming increasingly common in the US, used both by mainstream carriers and smaller airline companies.

They carry between 40 and 100 people and are much cheaper to run than normal-sized aircraft. In addition, they have the range and capability to serve Bermuda from dozens of US airports.

Airline consultant Tulinda Larsen, who has been working with the Department of Tourism for ten years, believes the smaller jets could help increase capacity and drive prices down.

She said: "Regional aircraft have an incredible range, I believe they are an incredible opportunity for Bermuda.'' The big carriers are starting to use the planes, particularly to service their main hubs and link up with their traditional routes. And they are used from large gateways to provide service where larger aircraft may not be profitable.

Detroit, Chicago, Memphis, Miami and Washington were some of the places that she identified as being potential new gateways to the Island.

They are becoming so popular that suppliers cannot keep up with demand.

Ms Larsen, whose company Back Aviation Solutions is under contract to the Department of Tourism, was speaking on the second day of the Bermuda National Tourism Conference at the BUEI, where she indicated that airlines were all downsizing their fleets, enabling them to fill more seats.

And she said, although Bermuda wanted more air service, it had more than more comparable destinations -- in the Caribbean only the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Aruba had more flights.

Another method of getting more capacity could be to encourage low-cost carriers to consider Bermuda, she said.

A Bermudian airline was an expensive route to go, she said. Nationally-owned airlines were difficult to manage, required alot of financial support and couldn't compete with the big carriers.

Later, Paul Zar of US tour wholesaler Go Go, outlined many of the challenges facing Bermuda.

The Internet and growth of global tourism were two of the issues.

But he said travel wholesalers would be vital in the future in bringing the vacation product to market -- particularly in matching visitors to destinations.

Boomerise tourism See story, Page 3