Carrier drops African, South American routes

North American Airlines may be small, but it offers non-stop scheduled service from the U.S. to some places that are otherwise hard to get to, including the African cities of Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria; and the South American city of Georgetown, Guyana. But by May 20, the airline will discontinue that service, which operates from both Baltimore/Washington International and New York JFK to the two African destinations and from JFK to Georgetown. The company cited an increase of 60 percent since 2005 in its fuel costs as the reason for ending the flights. But the decision might also have been due to new competition: Delta now flies from JFK to Accra and in December, it launched service between Atlanta and Lagos. In June, Delta will begin JFK-Lagos service, and in July it will start JFK-Georgetown non-stops. North American promised to issue refunds to anyone booked on flights that are being eliminated. More information is available at www.flynaa.com, or by calling 800-359-6222.