US Airways will end service to London and Frankfurt in November, leaving the region without one nonstop flight to Europe, as part of its latest round of cutbacks at Pittsburgh International Airport.

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In all, the struggling airline, which is eliminating its Pittsburgh hub, will drop nonstop service to 20 more cities in November, including State College, Montreal, Ottawa and Portland, Maine.

The cuts are part of a US Airways plan announced in July to eliminate one-third of its flights from Pittsburgh International and reducing its one-time largest hub to a "focus city."

Earlier, the airline announced it would cut service to 16 cities between July and October, including Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Memphis, Myrtle Beach, Toledo, Latrobe, Reading, South Bend and three West Virginia cities -- Beckley, Bluefield, and Huntingdon.

But the biggest blow yesterday involved the loss of London and Frankfurt flights, both of which have had tremendous symbolic and practical value to the region. The losses will make it far more difficult for local businesses with British or German ties to get overseas quickly.

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said the Frankfurt flight, which the airline launched in 1990, was losing money and was not worth continuing, particularly with the loss of connecting traffic because of the elimination of the hub. He said US Airways relied mainly on connecting traffic to fill the planes.

The airline reinstituted the London service in May on a seasonal basis. It was scheduled to end in November for the winter, but Castelveter said it would not return next spring.

"We discontinued the European service because we don't believe the demand exists locally," Castelveter said.

However, Allegheny County Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George said the authority's own research and its discussions with its consultants and US Airways showed that the Frankfurt flight was profitable.

He does not believe elimination of the service was justified.

"I really believe US Airways is going through their restructuring and Pittsburgh isn't part of their restructuring. Their concerns with Pittsburgh are not a top priority anymore and, consequently, they're going to take their airplanes and put them somewhere else where they think they can make more money," he said.

George said the loss of the European service will be "significant."

"It now curtails access of the business community to nonstop service in Europe and forces them to make other choices when, very clearly, we have enough traffic to support the routes," he said.

F. Michael Langley, chief executive officer of the Allegheny Conference of Community Development, said that 101 German companies and 63 United Kingdom firms currently operate in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Given that, maintaining adequate levels of service to Europe "is essential," he said.

Even before the formal announcement was made, George said the authority, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and the Allegheny Conference had been talking to other airlines about flying to Europe from the airport, but not necessarily to London and Frankfurt.

He would not name the carriers, although the authority has been in touch with virtually every major legacy and low-cost airline in the country seeking to replace service lost to the US Airways retrenchment.

"We have not been sitting idly by," George said.

Onorato vowed that Pittsburgh would have nonstop service to Europe, US Airways or not.

"Our goal is to get to Europe, to get a direct flight to Europe," he said. "US Airways is not the only company that goes to Europe. We're going to go to Europe. We're going to get a direct flight. We're not going to let US Airways dictate whether we go to Europe or not."

Onorato received a letter and a phone call from US Airways Chief Executive Officer Bruce Lakefield informing him of the decision to eliminate the European flights. He told Onorato the airline was losing money on them.

"I think this is a sign of a company having a hard time paying the bills," Onorato said, adding he believes there's a "very strong possibility" the airline will end up back in bankruptcy.

Kit Newton, a spokesman for Bayer Corp. in Pittsburgh, said the firm, whose world headquarters is in Germany, was disappointed over the loss of the Frankfurt flight. He said employees lose half a day of productivity each way when having to make connections on flights to and from Germany. The up side is that connecting flights tend to be less expensive, he said.

He said Bayer had shared information and its concerns about losing the flight with the PRA and others.

Other nonstop flights to be canceled in November include Akron-Canton, Ohio; Columbia, S.C.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Lexington, Ky.; and Roanoke, Va.

"When you eliminate all the connecting opportunities, there isn't enough service to fly these cities nonstop," Castelveter said.

Except for Akron and Grand Rapids, local travelers will be able to reach the other cities, including London and Frankfurt, through connections.

The airline also said yesterday that nonstop Pittsburgh-Cleveland service would be discontinued by October.

In its statement, US Airways said further cuts are possible before the end of the year as US Airways Express carriers finalize their schedules. The airline said it still intends to provide nonstop service to more than 50 markets from Pittsburgh, including 28 of the top 30 markets.

Onorato and Langley said local officials had made progress in recruiting airlines to stem US Airways cutbacks through the start-up of low-cost carrier Independence Air and through expanded or reinstated service being offered by a number of airlines, including United, ATA, AirTran, USA 3000, Northwest, and American.

"Instead of sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves, we have to be aggressive, market this airport and bring in other airlines, and that's exactly what we're doing," Onorato said.

But the gains so far have not come close to making up the losses resulting from the US Airways cutbacks.