ATLANTA — Starting this fall, Delta Air Lines Inc. will cut the number of flights it offers between the U.S. and China — a route it fought to get for years.

The carrier projects that demand for its flights between Atlanta and Shanghai, which it began offering March 31, won't be as strong this winter as it is now. It plans to return to its current schedule on the route next spring.

Asked Friday if the soaring cost of fuel played a role in the decision, Delta spokesman Kent Landers said, "Fuel has an impact on the entire network and we watch that very closely. But this is a situation where we're matching the right profile to the market and especially what we're expecting in the winter."

The price of a barrel of oil has doubled in the past year.

In May, two other carriers that only months earlier won federal approval to begin highly coveted routes to China said they would postpone the launch of the new services because of high fuel costs. The routes in question included planned United Airlines service between San Francisco and Guangzhou, and US Airways flights between Philadelphia and Beijing.

Landers said Delta's route from Atlanta to Shanghai is important to the airline and will continue to be in the future.

He said Delta received permission from the Department of Transportation to fly between Atlanta and Shanghai five days a week, instead of the current seven days a week, starting Nov. 7. Landers said the schedule would return to normal in May 2009.

The DOT's order converted two of Delta's Atlanta-Shanghai frequencies from year-round service to seasonal service.

During the affected time period, there will be no Delta flight from Atlanta to Shanghai on Wednesdays and Fridays, and there will be no Delta flight from Shanghai to Atlanta on Thursdays and Saturdays, Landers said.

That means the number of flights each week Delta offers between the two cities would be cut from 14 to 10.