NORTH American Airlines (NAA) yesterday announced it will be introducing a weekly Saturday flight from November 10, which will boost its service to thrice a week and provide Guyanese with a weekend travelling option on the Georgetown/New York route.

NAA Vice-President, Marketing, Mr. Bruno Scaldaferri confirmed the increased schedule during a visit to Guyana earlier this month when he expressed satisfaction with the Guyana market, the airline said in a statement yesterday.

It said Scaldaferri was accompanied by NAA's newly appointed Vice President, Finance, Mr. Steve Harfst.

NAA Guyana Representative, Ms. Jenny DeBarros, said the formal application for the additional flight was being processed by the Civil Aviation Department and she expected approval soon.

DeBarros said the introduction of the Saturday flight by the American flag carrier was a response to passenger appeal, the statement said.

It, however, noted that quite apart from facilitating the travelling public, the new service must be seen as an indication of NAA's commitment to, and permanence in the Guyana market.

"NAA will always be here to provide a consistent and reliable service for Guyanese and Guyana," DeBarros pledged.

"We at the Guyana office are encouraged that our principals are pleased with our operations. It is the same feedback we are getting from our passengers," she said.

NAA Sales Manager, Mr. Junior Horatio assured that the expanded schedule "will go into the Christmas season and well into the new year as necessary".

However, there will be a "lot of extra services" in another few weeks to cater for the anticipated surge in customer demand for the festive season.

Horatio said passenger traffic between Guyana and New York remained within projections after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

He said passengers have in general been cooperative with the more stringent security measures introduced at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri since September 11.

NAA said too, that it has implemented no fare increases to cover the additional costs to the airline because of the beefed-up security measures.

NAA operates the only non-stop scheduled flights between Georgetown and New York.

It has two weekly flights on Tuesday and Thursday.