PANAMA CITY, March 5(Xinhuanet)-- US Airways, a major US airline,announced Saturday it will cancel all its direct flights in May from Panama, El Salvador and Puerto Rico bound for Florida, a southeast state of the United States.

US Airways said in a statement released by the Panamanian press that the measure is part of a strategy to reduce expenses, which includes the return of 11 Boeing 737 airliners to their respectivelessors.

The Executive Vice President of Commercialization and Planning of US Airways Bruce Ashby said"it was necessary to act fast and remove some of our oldest airliners and the least profitable flights, which simply cannot continue."

The Virginia-Based US Airways, the seventh biggest in the US, was forced to cut its expenses due to competition in the market with high fuel costs.

Ernesto Orillac, president of the Panamanian Association of Tourism Operators, regretted the forthcoming closure of the airliners, in view of the potential benefits generated by a large number of arrivals.

Marco Nino de Guzman, president of the Airline Association of Panama, said the withdrawal of US Airways will lead to a decrease of future airline offers in the Central American country.