The government will continue to levy a fee on passengers to help finance the construction of airports until 2010, a newspaper backed by the Ministry of Finance reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources at the ministry.

The China Financial and Economic News said the State Council approved the decision to continue levying the fee, which was introduced in 1992.

The finance ministry's news department declined to confirm the report, while the General Administration of Civil Aviation couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

In early January, the finance ministry said it would continue to levy the fee until the end of this year, beyond the original deadline of the end of 2005.

The civil aviation regulator suggested earlier last month the fee would be extended further when it posted a question-and-answer statement that cited industry experts on its Web site.

"Considering that the shortage of funds for building airports remains very large at this stage, the airport-construction fee won't be ended in the near term," said the statement, which didn't give a time frame.

Continuation of the fee, which the finance ministry uses to subsidize airport operations and construction, could help operators, including Shenzhen Airport Co. Ltd.

Between 1992 and 2005, the amount raised from levying the fee totaled 29.1 billion yuan (US$3.71 billion), according to the statement on the regulator's Web site.

Editor: Donald