Shanghai Airlines Co., the city's second-biggest carrier, said it may miss its profit target as jet fuel price surges to a record.

"We'll do everything we can, but it will be very difficult,'' said President Fan Hongxi, speaking at a ceremony to launch the company's first non-stop flight to Taiwan today.

The carrier plans to expand flights to Vienna, Hamburg and Zurich this year even as fuel prices reach record highs. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong's largest airline, earlier this week forecast "disappointing'' earnings because of higher fuel costs, sending its shares to an almost two-year low.

"The market has been expecting another loss for Shanghai Air,'' said Li Lei, an analyst at China Securities Co. in Beijing. "Everyone's getting hammered by fuel prices and they've been expanding too quickly.''

Shanghai Airlines earlier predicted it would make a profit of 200 million yuan ($29 million) this year. Last year, it had a loss of 435 million yuan. The carrier's shares have lost 68 percent of their value this year.

Carriers worldwide may report combined losses of as much as $6.1 billion in 2008, according to the International Air Transport Association, whose members account for 93 percent of international traffic. That would be biggest loss since 2003 and compares with a $5.6 billion profit in 2007.

Cathay Pacific and Korean Air Lines Co. may both report losses this year because of jet fuel costs, according to some analysts.

China raised the price of jet fuel for domestic routes 25 percent on June 20. International jet fuel rose 5.2 percent in Singapore to a record $181.85 a barrel yesterday. The price has more than doubled in the past year.