Society

Snow disrupts air travel in Beijing

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-07 14:53

A light to moderate snow blanketed north China Sunday, leaving more than 80 flights out of Beijing delayed or cancelled.

Sixty-four flights out of Beijing had been delayed and another 21 been cancelled by 10 a.m., the Beijing Capital International Airport said in a statement.

The city received an average snowfall of 1.8 mm between 8 a.m. Saterday and 6 a.m. Sunday. Sijingshan district recorded the largest snowfall of 3.2 mm.

The road traffic wasn't much affected as all highways were open. Only 13 bus lines linking the downtown with the suburbs were cancelled and another 8 had to take debours, according to the Beijing Municipal Transport Committee.

The snow also blanketed regions including Shanxi, Heibei, Tianjin, Henan, Shandong and Liaoning. Tianjin and the northeast part of Hebei received a snowfall of up to 3.8 mm.

Twevle highways in Liaoning were partly closed and further one fully closed, local transport authorities said.

A light to moderate snow or sleet would hit northern Xinjiang, eastern Inner Mongolia, the Northeast and northern Shandong on Sunday, according to the Central Meteorological Observatory.

The agency also forecast that the country's central and eastern regions will see snowstorms and temperature drops from February 8 to 12.