2 direct flights to stop in October

Two Sino-US direct flights will stop in October, hampered by rising fuel costs, fierce competition, and slowing travel demand due to trade friction between China and the United States, industry experts said.

On Tuesday, Dallas-based American Airlines said it would stop flying the route between Chicago and Shanghai, after cutting direct flights between Chicago and Beijing in May, citing higher fuel costs and a "competitive environment".

"Our Chicago-Shanghai service is unprofitable and simply not sustainable in this high fuel cost environment, when we have opportunities to be successful in other markets," said Vasu Raja, vice-president of network and schedule planning of American Airlines.