Singapore - Soaring jet fuel costs and reduced demand for air travel left Singapore Airlines (SIA) with a 15 per cent fall in quarterly profits, the carrier said on Monday.

Net profit for April through June was 358.6 million Singapore dollars (263 million US dollars,) compared with 424 million Singapore dollars (316.4 million US dollars) a year ago.

"The price of jet fuel has risen more than 75 per cent year-on- year, and the strains on financial markets have not abated," SIA said in a statement. Trends are being tracked closely "and are in a good position to react nimbly," the carrier added.

Revenues were 4.13 billion Singapore dollars (3.08 billion US dollars) compared to 3.6 billion Singapore dollars (2.6 billion US dollars) for the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

"Passenger load factor declined by 2.2 percentage points to 76.7 per cent," SIA's said.

Action was taken to stop unprofitable routes, with the suspension of the five times weekly flights to Osaka via Bangkok from May 2008 and the four times weekly fights to Los Angeles via Taipei from October, SIA said. (dpa)