AER Lingus is to suspend flights on its Dublin-Los Angeles route from November 2. The company has cited "unprecedented increases in fuel costs, the weak dollar and slowing economies."Capacity is also being reduced on other long-haul routes by 15% this winter.Figures released last week showed show that, so far this year, the airline is filling only about two-thirds of its seats on U.S. routes.Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said the airline had no plans to ground any short-haul aircraft, however, but it may consider "canceling or deferring" some short-haul flights in the winter season.Mannion told reporters in Dublin, "There is no doubt in these days of very high fuel prices there is going to be casualties across the industry. Aer Lingus is in a very strong position. We will not be a casualty."He conceded that the Dublin-Los Angeles route, the airline's longest flight and biggest "fuel burn," had been "the first casualty" of the crisis.Aer Lingus Chairman John Sharman told the annual shareholders' meeting that the company expected, at best, to break even for the year 2008.Shares in the company fell more than 7% after the statement, but Sharman was upbeat about future prospects."The board remains confident that the company's medium-term growth plans remain on track. Aer Lingus has a strong balance sheet. It has a strong management team to manage its business through the current period of uncertainty," Sharman said.Ryanair, which owns a stake in its rival Aer Lingus, also warned that high fuel costs would hit profits this year.Meanwhile, Shannon Airport will have to wait until the end of the year for full U.S. customs clearance facilities.The airport has been pushing for such facilities to be introduced as soon as possible to give it a competitive advantage in attracting trans-Atlantic passengers.However, the Department of Transport said that, despite significant progress being made on the issue at a meeting between the Irish and U.S. governments in Dublin last week, it looks likely the process will not be completed until the end of the year.This could mean that it is more likely that the facility will be introduced at both Shannon and Dublin airports at the same time, ending any competitive advantage for either airport.The Department of Transport said the provision of the pre-clearance facility will require an inter-governmental agreement between Ireland and the U.S., and the enactment of primary legislation.Having full US custom clearance has been cited by Shannon Airport Authority Chairman Pat Shanahan as a valuable tool in the "post-Shannon stop-over" era which came into force at the end of March.A spokesman for Shannon Airport said that although the airport would like to see these facilities in place as soon as possible, it understands that time is needed to get the proper legislation in place.One of the main advantages of full U.S. custom clearance would be the opening up of new services to domestic American airports that cannot accept international flights due to a lack of customs and immigration clearance.