DAYTON — Air Canada’s decision to end flight service to Toronto from Dayton International Airport is a sign of the times, when airlines are reducing flights wherever possible as rising fuel prices squeeze profits.

The move costs Dayton International its only direct, scheduled commercial service to an international destination. About 60 percent of the Dayton airport’s passengers are business travelers, and the flight to Toronto provided an opportunity for them to connect at Air Canada’s Toronto hub with flights to Asia and Europe.

Air Canada will end its Dayton-to-Toronto service on May 1.

Travelers flying from Dayton will still be able to reach international destinations by connecting at other major U.S. airports with international flights on other carriers, said Phil Parker, president and chief executive officer of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, which works with the city of Dayton to market local air service. And the Dayton airport still serves private and chartered flights to international destinations.

But, Parker said: “It is disappointing that we’re not going to have that direct service into Canada.”

The change comes at a key time for the Dayton airport. The airport’s new director just started his job March 21, filling a role that had been handled by interim directors since May 2010.

The airport has nearly completed a five-year, $110 million capital improvement plan designed in part to make it more competitive with other airports in the region.

The airport’s passenger traffic has been increasing. It recorded 1,264,650 passenger boardings last year, up slightly from 1,253,782 in 2009. Boardings in January were up 8 percent from January 2010. In February, they increased 3 percent from a year earlier.

Other airports are dealing with flight cuts as well. Last week, Delta Air Lines said it would slash its service from Memphis (Tenn.) International Airport by 25 percent this year, reducing that airport’s annual passenger traffic by about 800,000 people. And Delta has dramatically reduced its direct service from Cincinnati to foreign cities in recent years.

“The carriers are all looking at everything they can now,” George Hamlin, president of Hamlin Transportation Consulting of Fairfax, Va., said Thursday. “If it doesn’t pass muster, it’s likely to go.”

Ridership on Air Canada’s flights from Dayton had declined for most of 2010, compared with the prior year. In October, the airline cut back from two daily flights to the current one.

Terrence Slaybaugh, Dayton’s director of aviation, said Air Canada ultimately decided to concentrate on its direct service from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to Toronto. The service from Cincinnati is aboard 50-seat regional jet aircraft, compared with a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 turboprop plane from Dayton. The jet gives the airline more seat capacity and greater profit potential.

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick did not respond Thursday to an email request for comment.

The city wants Slaybaugh to concentrate on flight service and economic development. His to-do list still includes carrying out a plan for commercial, non-aviation development of 400 acres of its land; redeveloping the nearly vacant air freight building owned by United Parcel Service, and working with local governments to extend a rail line from Vandalia onto the airport property to create a multimodal capability for air, truck and rail cargo transport.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com