Three Hong Kong-based airlines have asked the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) for permission of raising the levy of fuel surcharge, said a Department source Thursday.

The airlines are also seeking the extension for three more months of the existing surcharge price, it told Xinhua.

Thursday's South China Morning Post said Dragonair Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways are among the three.

"Like all airlines, Dragonair is facing heavy cost pressures from the persistently high price of oil," a spokesman for the Dragonair was quoted as saying, meaning the move was to help mitigate the impact of the sharply rising oil prices.

In May, the CAD allowed Cathay to raise its fuel surcharge 35 percent on long-haul flights to 19 US dollars per leg, and by 40 percent on regional flights to 7 US dollars per leg.

The source said the application is under consideration and the timetable of issuing permission or not has not been decided yet.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2004)