American Airlines is to operate a direct flight twice weekly to Miami next March, can reveal.

And Transport Minister Ewart Brown will tell the House of Assembly today the flight will be increased to five days a week from next June.

Dr. Brown said: ?We have been working on this for four years.?

Bermuda airport manager Jim Howes said the Miami link will start on March 16 with 4 p.m. flights on a Thursday and a Sunday.

They will arrive at 6.30 p.m. enabling passengers to pick up a variety of connecting flights to Latin America, the Caribbean and other southern American cities.

From June 2, 2005 flights will be increased to every day apart from Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The route will be served by Boeing 737s capable of carrying 142 passengers in first class and coach.

Mr. Howes said it was too early to talk prices but he said American Airlines was keen to start promoting the route this summer and get it established in its computers.

He said: ?The whole of southern Florida is a very large market ? it?s a heavily populated area.?

US Airlines had done well with the Fort Lauderdale last year said Mr. Howes and seemed to be doing well this year with two flights a week.

Asked if the Miami route would threaten this he said: ?We hope not, US Airways is a good partner of the Ministry of Transport.?

Surveys showed two thirds of passengers heading to Miami would use it has a hub for other destinations said Mr. Howes.

Dr. Brown said progress was made with JetBlue in talks this week but they were likely to come next year after expressing concerns about hotel availability this season.

Mr. Howes said the airline, based at New York?s JFK airport, had already filed an application with the the US Department of Transportation to come in 2005.

Dr. Brown said the airline believed newly-ordered 100-seat planes would ideally suit Bermuda.

He said: ?I had two very positive meetings with JetBlue, both with the general lawyer and with the Chief Operating Officer.

?They are concerned with our hotel capacity. We tried to get 2004 but we realised early in the year that it would more likely be 2005.?

By next year Bermuda will have two thirds of its pre-Fabian hotel capacity said the Minister.

He said he had been meeting with JetBlue at least once a quarter.