and the US again this winter season.

Service aboard the wide-body 252-passenger Boeing 767-300 will terminate on November 30 and the 183-passenger Boeing 757 will take over the routes between Bermuda and both Atlanta and Boston on December 1.

The smaller plane will continue on the routes until March 2 when the larger 767-300 will return.

Local Delta manager Jackie Zuill said: "The change to the smaller Boeing 757 aircraft is based on winter seasonal demand. We apologise for any inconvenience the operation of a narrow-body aircraft may cause our cargo customers.'' A similar switch last year caused air freight capacity to be reduced by some 80 percent.

The situation was solved when about a dozen importers entered a $25,000 joint venture with Bermuda Forwarders to bring a charter flight to Bermuda through Express One.

A Boeing 727 with a capacity of around 35,000 pounds flew to the Island from Hartford, Connecticut once a week.

When contacted yesterday, Bermuda Forwarders spokesman Ed Murphy said the firm had not been notified of Delta's plans to switch air planes.

However the firm would be looking at alternative modes of transport, if that was the case, and a charter flight was not the only option.

Arranging the last charter took up a great deal of time and effort so the company would look at other modes as well this time around, said Mr. Murphy.