year, the Tourism Minister announced yesterday.

The Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge said USAir would launch the daily service on May 7.

And it would compensate for the expected loss of American Airlines' direct flights to Raleigh-Durham.

"I am very happy that we have been able to achieve this. We have been working on it for some time,'' said Mr. Woolridge.

A 150-seat 727 plane would operate out of Charlotte, he said.

Mr. Woolridge also announced further good news from USAir: The plane flying daily out of Baltimore would be upgraded from a 130-seat 727 to a 240-seat 757; and The Boston schedule would definitely return on May 7.

Mr. Woolridge believed USAir was in good financial shape to provide the extra services.

"I'm pleased we've managed to improve our USAir service since the airline industry is so competitive.'' He added Government was still hoping American Airlines would launch a Miami-Bermuda flight.

And there were other possibilities being looked at by American to compensate for the likely cancellation of the Raleigh service, he said.

Shadow Tourism Minister Mr. David Allen welcomed the boost.

"The flight out of Charlotte is really a resumption of a service which was suspended one or two years ago. We were very disappointed when it happened since the Carolinas are a significant market.'' He noted USAir had suffered bad publicity recently following safety concerns.

"I hope they will be able to fill all the seats,'' he added.