North American Airlines will be operating its B757 for Travelspan flights to Guyana, Trinidad and Fort Lauderdale with effect from June 24, following a new agreement between the two airlines which comes into effect for the summer peak season.

Meantime, Travelspan stated in a press release yesterday that it has suspended its flights from February through June 23 and will resume service under its new contract with North American for the peak season commencing June 24 this year.

In amending its scheduled services between Port of Spain, New York and Fort Lauderdale and Georgetown, it cited rising fuel costs and operational conditions.

However, the release said, “all passengers booked with Travelspan will be protected on North American Airlines and other scheduled services or offered a full refund.”

And the Travelspan office will continue to sell other scheduled airline tickets such as Delta in addition to its service with North American for the summer peak months, the release added.

The relationship between Travelspan and North American dates back to over a decade and most recently in 2005 and 2006 North American Airlines operated its B757 for Travelspan flights.

Persons can call the Travelspan office for more information via telephone numbers 592-227-1701, 592-337-5200 or their toll free number 1-866-424-8446.

Earlier this week North American Airlines had announced that the high cost of fuel was also forcing it to cease scheduled flights to Guyana and some other destinations.

The company had stated in a press release that the scheduled service to Georgetown, Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana would cease on May 20 this year.

Chief Commercial and Planning Officer, Rob Binns had noted that the airline had a long history of serving the Guyana-New York market and was the first US airline in decades to fly non-stop service from the US to sub-Saharan Africa.

He also was quoted as saying “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”.

He had also noted the excellent customer response to their non-stop service between Georgetown and John F. Kennedy International Airport since its inception in 1999.

The release said that customers 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. It stated too that for questions and refunds, the airline can be contacted on telephone numbers 1 800 359 6222 or in Georgetown 227 5805 while additional information can also be found on http://www.flynaa.com/.

While North American is leaving, Delta Airlines has announced it has received permission from US authorities to fly to Guyana later this year and American Airlines is also said to be interested.