North American Airlines Starts Direct Accra-New York Service
Hi there, There have been lots of advertisement about North American Airlines Commencing a direct service between Accra and New York. I actually saw a banner advertising the new flights this morning. Who are North American Airlines? I certainly have never heard of them before. Whoever they are, they will make loads of cash as this was one of Ghana Airways most profitable routes. Their load factors should be high considering the only way to the US is either through Europe (long flight times + transit visa hurdles for most West African citizens) or through DXB (now that would be a really loooong flight). What I find interesting is that I thought Kotoka Airport lost its FAA Category One status recently. I thought loss of Category One means you cannot have direct flights to the USA. Did this get reinstated or is the category one status applied selectively (depending on the airline operating the route)?

What I find interesting is that I thought Kotoka Airport lost its FAA Category One status recently. I thought loss of Category One means you cannot have direct flights to the USA. Did this get reinstated or is the category one status applied selectively (depending on the airline operating the route)? ACC must have Cat 1 status if North American are going to fly there direct. SAA will also start to fly ACC-USA direct soon as part of their JNB-ACC-IAD service so the Cat 1 issues must have been sorted out. Can't give you too much info on North American Airlines, but here's what I do know: They fly under the IATA code NA and have a small (by American standards) fleet of B767-300ER's, all of which are 2nd hand I think. Other than that I'm in the dark. Nice to an American Airline serving Africa though, hopefully CO, DL or AA will get in on the act soon (although I wouldn't hold my breath). Sean

I thought North American was once a subsidary of El Al providing feeders from Miami and some other cities to El Al's flights out of JFK. I am not sure whether they're still tied to El Al. Nowadays they mostly provide charter flights and some scheduled fligths on niche routes such as to Georgetown, British Guyana, and now to Accra.

North American is no longer owned by/related to El Al but was recently taken over by World Airways. They mainly operate charters but fly scheduled routes from JFK to Accra and Gerorgetown and from Oakland (San Fransisco) to various Hawaii destinations. See there website - http://www.northamericanair.com/index_flash.asp

Thanks for the link B737-600. Their fares are rather steep though, seems prices start at about $1,200 for a return flight. I suppose they will come down once ET and SAA commence their flights to US via ACC. The entrance of GIA should also increase competition.

Hi Walter, what are you doing in Accra now? Felix

Great to see some US - Africa routes starting. I have to say again , I think airlines like CO , AA and UA would make a killing on the USA-JNB and USA-CPT routes in my opinion. Especially AA if they could use MIA since there is alot of demand for that route. But thats a whole different topic so I won't get into that :) -SA006