By BETTY VEDRINE &,VERNON CLEMENT JONES,Guardian Business Desk

A much-anticipated boost in arrival numbers has been grounded this tourism season, with a Mid-West carrier delaying its takeoff to The Bahamas until fall 2008.

Low-cost carrier Skybus was slated to start its service from Columbus to Nassau and Freeport as early as October 2007, providing direct non-stop flights from the increasingly important U.S. Mid-West. That would have afforded thousands of Americans from Ohio and surrounding states the same kind of direct and easy access to this market, others across the Eastern U.S. now enjoy.

But those plans have now changed.

"It's still a project we are working on," Skybus CEO Bill Diffenderffer told Guardian Business yesterday. "There are a number of regulatory and logistic concerns we are still working on.

"It's not going to come in this winter, perhaps by early fall 2008."

The altered ETA is by no means a reflection of what's happening in the US market, he added.

"The economy has not played a role in this (the delay)," he said. "We continue to believe that there are real opportunities there (The Bahamas)."

It was last June, his Columbus-based airline announced its intention to quite literally fly into the Bahamian market as well as Cancun, Mexico. The initiative would have seen Skybus spread its wings outside of the U.S. It would also have allowed it to join airlines like Delta and Spirit that have already made the move to increase direct airlift from the States to this country.

Skybus's proposed service would likely have increased the number of visitors coming from Ohio, Illinois and Michigan.

Currently, tourists from that neck of the American woods must stop over in hubs like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Miami.

Skybus would have allowed them to circumvent that route, cutting travel times thereby making The Bahamas a more attractive option for Americans seeking a quick getaway. It would also have supported Tourism Deputy Director David Johnson's objective of beter answering the growing call for cheap flights for short trips.

That, too, has been delayed, although Skybus has already been given the go-ahead from Bahamian officials.

"We received the approvals from Nassau and Grand Bahama some time ago," Diffenderffer said Wednesday. His budget airline, like all others across North America, is now grappling with rising fuel costs and an expected decline in travel demand.

The Ministry of Tourism remains hopeful the carrier will ultimately wing its way to The Bahamas.

"We are still in close collaboration with Skybus," said Tyrone Sawyer, director of airlift for the promotion board. "It's just a matter of picking the opportune time and making sure that the proper planning is in place before going ahead with this new service."

Any delay beyond fall 2008, however, may further hamper efforts here to weather any fallout from the poor U.S. economy. Johnson, in fact, argues that the destination's competitive advantage could be undermined by a lack of non-stop flights to The Bahamas.

"Our proximity advantage is lost in many markets where we lack non-stop flights and our competition, although far away, has non-stops that can get you there and back in much less travel time," he told Rotarians on Tuesday. Files by Vernon Clement Jones