by CARMEL HAYNES

IF ALL GOES according to plan, Barbados could be benefiting from a direct flight between here and Brazil in time for the start of its tourism high season in November.

Brazil's Ambassador to Barbados Orlando Oliveira revealed this to the Press on Tuesday afternoon after making a presentation on his country to the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) at its monthly lunch seminar at the Barbados Yacht Club on Bay Street, St Michael.

Oliveira said TAF Linhas Aeras, a Brazilian airline based in the north of that country, had shown active interest in starting a direct flight between Bridgetown and the northern city of Belem.

The South American diplomat said the interest had existed for over a year as TAF was intent on expanding its service into Central America and the Caribbean.

He revealed that the president of TAF had visited Barbados in November 2005 to explore the possibilities and the service had been expected to start in April last year, but had faced delays.

He added officials had held meetings with Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch in February to further advance the process.

Oliviera projected that the direct air route would be viable as Brazilians would want to take advantage of the hours of flying time they would save going through Bridgetown to get to Miami.

He pointed out that the distance between Belem and Bridgetown was even shorter than the distance between Belem and the federal capital Brasilia.

In turn, he said he knew of Barbadian business people who were eagerly awaiting the direct flight because they wanted to explore what goods could be supplied from Barbados to Brazil.

Tom Sears, president of BIBA, said his association was prepared to offer whatever support it could to get the initiative off the ground and he expected that once the direct service got started, it would open Barbados as an important hub for the whole of South America.

He said this would cement Barbados' status as a natural business connection for the rest of the world and he anticipated that the 40 nations from which BIBA's membership was drawn would be eager to take further advantage of Barbados' position.