ORLANDO -- Delta Airlines is slashing flights at Orlando International Airport, because of high fuel costs.
Atlanta-based Delta said they would cancel all nonstop flights between Orlando and at least seven more cities by the end of the summer, on top of a dozen previous route cancellations.
Cuts include nonstop flights from Orlando to the following cities:
- Columbus, Ohio
- Key West, Fla.
- Knoxville, Tenn.
- Louisville, Ky.
- Panama City, Fla.
- Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
- Richmond, Va.
Meanwhile, AirTran said in investor filings this week that it intends to reduce its nationwide capacity by at least 5 percent beginning in September.
Despite the cuts, Gary Sain, head of the Orlando-Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the Orlando tourist industry shoud not really feel the cuts.
"It may affect about 3 or 4 percent of the total 36, 37 million visitors who come through OIA, but it doesn't mean that those same people from Columbus, Ohio can't get to Orlando. There are still alternatives," Sain said.
The airline cuts came as oil prices seem to set new records every week.
Delta, for example, expected to pay $4 billion more for fuel in 2008 than it did in 2007.
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