Delta Air Lines is suspending its new nonstop service to Tokyo from Salt Lake City because of the weak economy, a drop-off in air travel and fears about the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Flights will be suspended between Oct. 1 and May 14, when they are set to resume, Delta spokesman Anthony Black said Wednesday. Passengers holding tickets for direct flights between those dates will be put on flights that connect through Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Portland, Ore.

The airline's route between Salt Lake City and Paris will continue to operate as usual.

"We continue to be pleased with the performance in service between Salt Lake and Paris," Black said.

While the recession played a big part in Delta's decision to suspend the Tokyo route launched in June, the H1N1 scare also played a role. Fears about the virus cost Delta as much as $150 million in the second quarter.

Last month, the airline said it would cut flights to Tokyo from its Salt Lake City hub to four times a week from five times on Sept. 1 because fears about the flu kept too many travelers from flying, said Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president of network planning and revenue management.

Hauenstein said Delta would restore the fifth flight if it sees fears about H1N1 recede and Japanese travelers return to traveling.

"It is disheartening, because we were looking forward to the new service," said Barbara Gann, spokeswoman for Salt Lake City International Airport. "However, given the state of the economy and the impacts the H1N1 virus has had on aviation, it is a business decision to bring it back at a more conducive time."

The airport gave Delta a package of incentives totaling $1 million in cash and fee rebates to launch the route. The package included $600,000 to pay for advertising and marketing expenses. Gann said the airport won't try to recover the money.

"It's been spent," she said.

The Utah Office of Tourism chipped in about $100,000 to pay for advertising, including an ad that appears in the current issue of Delta's in-flight magazine.

"We were hoping to capture some skiers [from Japan] this winter, but hopefully we can do it next year," managing director Leigh von der Esch said.

Japan is well known in public health circles for being nervous about the flu, according to The New York Times . Health officials have detained passengers and flight attendants flying into Tokyo's Narita International Airport over concerns about the virus.

Earlier this month, Delta CEO Richard Anderson said the airline had seen its revenue decline by billions of dollars because of the global recession and weak passenger demand. The suspension of the Tokyo route is part of Delta's previously announced plan to cut international capacity by 15 percent, beginning in September.

pbeebe@sltrib.com