Soaring international oil prices have prompted the Chinese authorities to decide to extend the deadline on imposing additional fees on jet fuel from December 31 to March 31, next year, the Economic Information Daily said.

The decision was jointly announced on Wednesday by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the report said.

An official from CAAC explained the current additional fees on jet fuel that were levied starting on Aug. 1, which aimed at helping local airlines deal with the cost pressure brought by rising jet fuel prices, would remain unchanged.

That means passengers who travel less than 800 km will pay an additional 20 yuan when buying tickets, and those who travel longer than 800 km will pay additional 40 yuan.

But no more additional fees on jet fuel will be levied on those who have already booked in advance air tickets for flights between January 1 and March 31, next year, the official said.

The commission raised the price of jet fuels by 430 yuan, 300 yuan and 300 yuan respectively on March 15, June 25 and July 23 this year from original 4,190 yuan per ton.

However, due to the high oil prices on the international market, China's major airlines reported dropping profits and losses estimated at 400 million yuan (48.37 million US dollars) in the first half of this year.

The airlines blamed their declining profits on the rising cost of fuel, which rose by 800 yuan (97 dollars) per ton to reach 4, 920 yuan per ton.

It was reported that jet fuel made up around 30 to 40 percent of the airlines' overall operating expenses.

Source: Xinhua