American Airlines reduces Mexico flights

Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu 

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhuanet) -- American Airlines will cut about a quarter of aircrafts to Mexico because of a weaker travel demand due to the swine flu.

American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said Tuesday in
an email Fort Worth-based American, a subsidiary of AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) along
with regional affiliate American Eagle, will reduce the number of flights on
Mexico routes that have multiple trips per day.

The cutbacks will be between May 8 and June 10, and
American will "continue to evaluate demand (for) its summer schedule to Mexico
beyond June 10," Smith said.

"None of the current 14 destinations in Mexico will
lose service from American or Eagle," the spokesman said.

(Agencies)

Mexican resort reports $650,000 loss a week due to flu

Special Report:
World Tackles A/H1N1
Flu

MEXICO CITY, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Popular Mexican tourist destination Los
Cabos is losing around 650,000 U.S. dollars a week as the new A/H1N1 flu strain
frightens visitors, local officials told media on Monday.

The resort has suffered cancellations that emptied 3,200 hotel rooms, the
town's director of tourism, Miroslav Bautista, told media, even though Baja
California Sur, the state where the resort is located, does not have a single
case of the flu which has killed 27 people in Mexico.

Bautista said that, separately, 19 cruise ships have cancelled stop offs in
the port of Cabo San Lucas, which represents 40,000 people who will not visit
the area.

"Hotels, restaurants, bars, discos and small businesspeople have all felt
the effects of cancellations and postponements," he said.

Mexico's government reported 727 cases of the disease across the country,
making Mexico the hardest hit nation of the 21 countries the World Health
Organization says now hosts the disease. Even so, six of Mexico's 32 states have
no signs of the new flu.

Bank of Mexico raises 2009 inflation forecast

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

MEXICO CITY, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Mexico on Wednesday raised its inflation forecast by 0.25 points for the rest of this year after the first quarter figure reached 6.18 percent.

The central bank in its quarterly report estimated that inflation will reach as high as 6.0 percent, 5.25 percent and 4.5 percent in the next three quarters respectively.

"Although inflation expectations show a downward tendency for the coming months, this forecast is not exempt from risks," the bank said.

"Underlying inflation has maintained a rising trend which could be associated with the impact on the production cost structure caused by exchange rate depreciation," it said.

On Wednesday, Mexico's currency peso traded at around 13.68 to the dollar, compared with 9.86 in last August. A weaker peso means that manufacturers and consumers have to pay more for imports, which has a knock-on effect on all prices.

The bank estimated Mexico's economy will contract by 3.8 percent and 4.8 percent this year, and state-insured jobs will be reduced by 350,000 to 450,000 by the end of this year.

The Bank of Mexico on April 17 cut its target interest rate by 0.75 points to 6 percent to contain the economic fallout from the global recession.