U.S. Air Travelers to Mediterranean Decline

U.S. bookings on flights to Mediterranean destinations have been cut by over 50% since the U.S. air raid on Libya last month, a senior American airline official said Tuesday.

Martin Shugrue, vice chairman of Pan American World Airways, told a news conference that industry-wide U.S. bookings to Egypt have dropped by 90%, to Greece by 60% to 70% and to Italy by 40% to 50% on fear of retaliatory attacks on U.S. targets after the Libya raid.

More northerly European destinations were less affected and business travel continued normally, he added.

Shugrue said Pan Am suspended flights to Egypt and shelved plans to expand services to Greece and Italy. New transatlantic routes between Chicago and Frankfurt and the U.S. West Coast and Paris planned for this summer were also put off for the time being. He also said the sharply lower dollar was also a factor keeping Americans from traveling to Europe.