Thai Airways International will halt its direct flights between Bangkok and New York starting next month because of rising fuel prices, the company said Saturday.
Thailand's national carrier said its board agreed Friday to end the direct flights July 1 and to reduce flights to Los Angeles from seven to five a week as part of an energy saving plan. It also plans to end direct flights to Los Angeles later this year, the company said.
"The change of the flight plan is to lessen the impact of the rising energy price which has affected the entire industry," the company said in a statement. "If the fuel prices goes down, we will consider resuming the direct flights."
Airlines have been struggling to contain costs this year as oil prices have skyrocketed.
Scores of startup airlines have gone out of business because of rising fuel prices. Several major carriers have also announced they are increasing fuel surcharges or adding a baggage surcharge, reducing capacity, deferring plane orders or shedding jobs to deal with rising costs.