The first two weeks of Bermudian control of the Island's airport has gone "extremely smoothly'' according to the man in charge of operations.

On June 1, more than half a century of US Navy control of the airport ended when an official ceremony was staged to hand the centre over to Bermuda.

Yesterday, the airport's Manager of Air Operations, Mr. John Williams, said from an operational point of view everything had gone very well since control was handed over.

"We are very happy with the way things have gone and we have encountered no problems in dealing with aeroplanes from all around the world,'' he added.

Eleven days ago USAir flight 599 became the first commercial flight to be guided into the air terminal under Bermuda control. As a tribute to the event two Navy P-4 fire engines pumped a stream of water over the fuselage.

The first person to disembark from the plane was the Management and Technology Minister, the Hon. Grant Gibbons, who was followed by the 147 other passengers on the flight.

Mr. Williams said that since the hand-over the airport had handled more than 80 aeroplanes and 160 take-offs or landings. The jets had come from across the world and were both civil and military planes.

He said today the airport was expecting military flights from Morocco and Algeria and yesterday it handled a military flight from Italy. All were en route to North America.

Meanwhile three new fire trucks, worth a total of $1.2 million, were shipped in yesterday from North America.

"They are state-of-the-art, international standard trucks,'' said Mr.

Williams. "At the moment the airport is using fire trucks left by the US Navy which are due to leave at the beginning of August.'' Training on the new fire trucks will go on from now until the end of July and the engines will be operated by Serco Aviation Services, of Canada.

Mr. Williams added: "Dealing with the aircraft is just one element of what we are doing, there are other things such as weather forecasting, looking after the condition of the runway and the electronic aids to navigation.

"We are very happy with the way things have gone and see no glithces on the horizon and in a couple of years' time the whole of our staff should be Bermudians'' said Mr. Williams.

NEW ARRIVAL -- One of the three new "state-of-the-art'' fire trucks which arrived at Hamilton docks yesterday. The trucks are bound for the airport.