A gate-crasher yesterday upstaged the long-awaited inaugural flight of Condor Airlines.

Pipped by less than 24 hours by a sister 767 Condor aircraft that stopped unexpectedly in Bermuda on Monday, the official first flight touched down on time yesterday just before 3 p.m.

In the background, the beleaguered Germany-bound aircraft that rerouted to Bermuda after an electrical malfunction awaited spare parts and technicians that arrived on board yesterday's flight.

Meanwhile a firefighter's welcome greeted the distinctive yellow-tailed aircraft as it taxied down the runway.

In a gesture traditionally used to mark a pilot's last flight, two Naval Air Station fire trucks directed jets of water in arcs over the aircraft.

Minutes later, 90 Bermuda-bound passengers alighted, followed by the majority of travellers who stopped here less than an hour before continuing on to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Almost a third of Bermuda visitors on the flight were German Press, travel agents and local tourism officials.

In March, limp reservations thwarted plans to create a direct link with Frankfurt when Lufthansa, Condor's parent company, backed out of a proposed Frankfurt-Bermuda-Frankfurt route.

Instead, the route has been extended to Santo Domingo via Bermuda. As yet, there is still no direct flight from Bermuda to continental Europe because the flight returns directly to Frankfurt from Santo Domingo.

Nevertheless, Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge, who was first to step off the inaugural flight, claimed he was pleased with the publicity generated at Frankfurt airport.

"It is a very exciting moment,'' he said as he stepped onto the tarmac sporting his familiar attire -- a pair of yellow Bermuda shorts. "All of us were very proud.'' In highlighting the positive, the minister referred to the full flight, the high number of first class passengers and their expected average stay of two weeks.

He added gombeys, who also boarded the flight at Frankfurt, caught the attention of curious onlookers at Frankfurt airport.

"Thousands of people were watching leaning over balconies and cheering,'' he said.

Yesterday, the gombeys performed briefly on their home territory to welcome Bermuda-bound passengers as they filed into the airport terminal.

Tourism's London representative Mr. Derek Brightwell, also on the flight, admitted it would take time for Bermuda to emerge as a holiday destination in Germany.

Although publicity around the flight was taking hold, it would take time for the message to sink in, he said.

He added that part of the $2.8-million tourism marketing budget in Europe was earmarked for a major advertising campaign to promote the flight.

On Monday, a Cologne, Germany-bound flight stopped off in Bermuda en route from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.

Described by air operations manager at the Civil Air Terminal, Mr. John William as a precautionary -- not an emergency -- stop, the plane touched down at the Civil Air Terminal at around 11 p.m. after technicians on board failed to fix an electrical problem.

Passengers spent the night at Marriott's Castle Harbour Hotel. They were expected to leave on the repaired plane yesterday evening.

It is hoped the much-heralded first direct link with continental Europe will boost flagging air arrival figures.

March figures showed a distinct dip in arrivals by air after 3,000 fewer visitors alighted in Bermuda compared with March last year.

However, recent tourism figures show Bermuda's Caribbean competitors have also suffered similar dips. The Bahamas, Barbados, the US Virgin Islands and Jamaica have also suffered a decline in visitor arrivals ranging between two and almost ten percent.

Tourism figures here have put total arrivals at 4.5 percent less than last year.