North American Airlines to Discontinue International Scheduled Service to Lagos, Accra and Georgetown
Tuesday February 19, 7:00 am ET
Will Redeploy Aircraft into Charter Market

JAMAICA, N.Y., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- North American Airlines today announced that it will discontinue scheduled service between the United States and the cities of Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and Georgetown, Guyana. All flights in these markets will be completed by May 20, 2008.


"North American has a long history of serving the New York-Guyana market, and we were the first U.S. airline in decades to fly non-stop service from the United States to sub-Saharan Africa," said Rob Binns, Chief Commercial and Planning Officer. "We have been pleased that all of these markets have performed on a revenue basis as we anticipated. What now makes these markets untenable is the rising cost of fuel. We have seen our jet fuel costs increase 60 percent since we entered the Africa markets in 2005.

"This was a difficult decision, especially in light of the continuing support we have received from the governments and the traveling public in our Africa markets," Binns said. "We also have had excellent customer response to our nonstop service between Georgetown and John F. Kennedy International Airport since its inception in 1999, and we regret that economic conditions now force us to bring these flights to an end."

All customers currently booked on discontinued North American flights will receive a refund for the unused portion of their reservation or may opt to travel on an earlier date. For questions and refunds, contact North American at 1-800-359-6222. In Accra, customers may call 21-911086; in Lagos they may call 271-6380 and in Georgetown, the local phone number is 227-5805. Additional information can also be found on www.flynaa.com .

"North American's modern Boeing 757/767 fleet is in high demand and we will redeploy these aircraft profitably in the charter market," Binns said.

North American Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Aero Logistics Inc., is a U.S.-certificated air carrier offering air transportation services throughout the world for the U.S. military and commercial customers. Founded in 1989, North American operates a fleet of 10 passenger aircraft.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080219/cltu030b.html?.v=1

Not happy

Wow now all of the flights through Europe are gonna be crowded too...