touch down on a goodwill visit to Bermuda this week.

Peter Spencer, director, the Americas, will meet high-flying businessmen and Government officials in his second visit to the Island in two years.

BA Bermuda manager Philip Troake said: "We are having a luncheon for a cross-section of our high-yield customers.

"Mr. Spencer will also meet with Government -- it's part of the normal dialogue we have with the Government. We try to keep them abreast of what we are doing and find out what they are doing in terms of promoting tourism.'' And Mr. Troake said the first flight of the new Boeing 777 out of London's Gatwick airport next year will be a flight to Bermuda.

He said the brand-new state-of-the-art jet is already in service on some routes out of Heathrow Airport -- but that the inaugral flight from Gatwick had yet to take place.

He added: "It's a prestige thing -- it proves that Bermuda is an important market for us and that it gets the recognition it deserves as a major business market.'' The introduction of the new aircraft will also mean the resumption of the normal four flights a week direct London/Bermuda service, suspended due to a shortage of aircraft.

Mr. Spencer's first posting when he joined BA's predecessor -- BOAC -- in 1968 was in Bermuda.

He is now responsible for revenue on transatlantic routes between the UK, North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean and Bermuda.

He deals with sales, marketing and service delivery to the region from BA's world headquarters at Heathrow Airport.