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Airlines in the US are finding that many of their planes flying to Mexico are nearly empty, according to a report by The Associated Press, indicating that worries about the spread of swine flu are keeping travellers away from that country.

Fewer than half of all available seats on Continental Airlines services to Mexico had been reserved on Wednesday evening, according to information available from the airline’s website.

On flights from Houston, Texas to Cancun, only five of the 157 seats available on a Wednesday night departure had been booked. On Continental’s flight from Newark, New Jersey to Mexico City, also on Wednesday evening, 75 per cent of the seats were still available just 20 minutes prior to departure – or 93 of 124 seats.

At times, carriers have to fly planes that only have a few passengers, because the aircraft needs to be positioned for the return flight – and that could be the case given the current situation in Mexico.

“The flights coming back north are full,” said Dave Messing, a spokesman for Continental Airlines.

By Wednesday night, there were only about a dozen seats available on some of Continental’s flights from Mexico City to Houston, on planes having a capacity of 124 passengers. Flights on the smaller aircraft of regional carrier Continental Express reported even fewer empty seats.

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