Several airlines announced the suspension of flights to Central America beginning in the second half of this year due to the recent fuel price spike, Costa Rican local daily "La Nacion" reported Friday.

United Airlines reported the suspension of its flights to Guatemala beginning September 2, said Jesus Noguez, the company's sales manager for Central American and the Caribbean.

The hike in oil prices has raised the already high operating costs, and finally led to the suspension of flights to Guatemala, according to Noguez.

The company has operated the route for 17 years and offered a daily flight from Los Angeles to Guatemala and vice versa.

Spirit Airlines, another U.S. airline, postponed the launch of a new route between El Salvador and Miami, which had planned to start in August, also due to rising fuel prices.

"We received information from Spirit that they decided to postpone the flight to El Salvador since fuel prices are not stable," said Salvadorian Tourist Minister Ruben Rochi.

The Mexican low-cost airline Interjet also decided to postpone the flights between Guatemala City and Merida, Mexico.

American Airlines will suspend flights between United States and Puerto Rico as well as some Caribbean islands, said the company's director of communication, Martha Pantin.

Costa Rican Minister of Tourism Carlos Ricardo Benavides said that he has so far received no official reports of flight cancellations concerning Costa Rica.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2008)