Northwest to end cargo services to Guangzhou: report

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines Corp NWA.N will stop its freighter service to China's Guangzhou from July 1, the latest sign that high oil prices are buffeting the regional aviation industry, South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

"The unprecedented rise in fuel prices created a situation where it was no longer possible for our cargo unit to operate profitable freight services into Guangzhou," Gilbert Chow, Northwest's Hong Kong general manager, was quoted as saying.

Northwest, which moved its south China air-cargo hub to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport from Hong Kong 18 months ago, currently operates 5 weekly freighter flights from Guangzhou to the U.S. via Japan, the newspaper said.

U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 surged to a record high above $135 per barrel on Thursday amid a weaker dollar.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)