New NY charter service starts up on July 16
By Desiree Jodah
Persons travelling to and from Guyana may not be hit by peak season blues as another airline prepares to take to the skies, the first in several years. North American Airlines (NAA) has joined GA 2000 and BWIA as carriers offering international services to the United States of America. According to North American representative in Guyana, Jennifer De Barros, a former manager of the old Guyana Airways Corporation (GAC), the airline will be offering a non-stop service to New York twice weekly starting July 16. De Barros said the 10-year-old airline will be operating a 757 aircraft seating 185 passengers every Monday and Friday. NAA will depart the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri at 18:10 hrs every Monday and 09:25 hrs on Fridays. Passengers would be allowed two pieces of luggage and one handpiece. A return fare is US$399 without tax for a 60-day ticket. Fares for children are 50 percent less. The NAA representative in answer to a query, said no decision has been made as to which company will handle the airline at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. She said GA 2000 had been approached and they had indicated their willingness to do so, however, other handling companies have also signalled their interest. The local office situated at the Cara Suites Hotel on Middle Street, opened its doors to the public for the first time on Tuesday. "Overwhelming", was how sales manager, Junior Horatio, former commercial manager of GAC, described the response. He said the phones were busy all day and he was happy with the way business had started. De Barros sees NAA operations here as an addition to "choices" that consumers could make. She said for the first time consumers would be able to shop around. Asked for a comment on remarks that foreign chartered services only operate in the peak season and leave in the low season, De Barros said NAA is a chartered service with a schedule that runs into the year 2000. She said NAA will operate in the peak season as well as the low season. Passengers in the past had suffered during the peak season with late departures and arrivals and with left baggage at the port of embarkation. And in the case of the old GAC, mechanical failures on the lone international carrier, the Boeing 757 had caused many problems for passengers. Asked what guarantee NAA could give passengers using its service that they would not be victims of such occurrences, De Barros noted that NAA has 10 years experience and on-time departures and arrivals would be their trademark. She said NAA has a fleet of four aircraft, two 757s and two 737s. The start up of NAA had not been without glitches. The company had filed an objection with the US Department of Transport (DOT) to GA 2000 landing in that country. According to reports, the company had claimed that its application to the Guyana Air Transport Authority to operate a non-stop service here had not been responded to. NAA's application had been submitted on May 6 and was approved on June 30 based on a reciprocal arrangement which allowed GA 2000 landing rights in the US. GA 2000 will be launching its inaugural flight to New York today.
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