Washington - Rising jet fuel costs have taken a toll on another US carrier, with Continental Airlines Inc Thursday posting second-quarter losses of three million dollars.

Continental is the fifth-largest carrier in the world. "The combination of record high fuel prices, weakening economic conditions and a weak dollar has resulted in the worst financial environment for US network carriers since the 9/11 terrorist attacks," a company statement said.

The airline will cut 3,000 jobs and retire 67 least-fuel efficient aircraft from its fleet by the end of 2009.

Continental's fuel cost, its largest expense, rose 66 per cent from a year ago, to 1.36 billion dollars, Bloomberg financial news agency reported.

On Wednesday, American Airlines parent AMR Corp and Delta Air Lines Inc posted combined losses of 2.49 billion dollars, but the shares of both airlines rose more than
20 per cent as they planned to reduce flights and operating costs.

AMR Corp posted a net loss of 1.45 billion dollars, while Delta reported a loss of 1.04 billion dollars.

Starting September, US carriers are to ground at least 481 jets and cut almost 22,000 jobs. (dpa)