Delta begins flights to Africa

Delta Air Lines began its "first-ever service" this week with flights between Atlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa. The daily flights make a stop in Dakar, Senegal. "With this new service, Delta becomes the only [U.S.-based] major network carrier offering direct scheduled service between the United States and Africa, saving customers valuable time otherwise spent flying over European connections," Delta says in a press release announcing the new service. "Delta will operate the new flights using Boeing 767-300ER aircraft configured to carry 214-passengers with 35 seats in BusinessElite," adds iafrica.com. Delta's Atlanta-Dakar-Johannesburg route won't be its only new route to Africa. On Dec. 11, the carrier begins flying to Accra, Ghana, from its hub at New York JFK. While Delta is the only "network" carrier flying to Africa, smaller JFK-based North American Airlines also flies to Africa with service from New York JFK and Baltimore to the cities of Accra; Lagos, Nigeria; and Banjul, Gambia.