Affected by thick fog that had been shrouding Beijing since early Wednesday, the Capital International Airport was forced to call off altogether 190 flights by 6 PM yesterday.

 

They included 91 in-bound flights and 99 outbound ones, but the exact number of passengers affected is not available.

 

The airport authorities have managed to mobilize more than 500 cabs and 100 or so shuttle buses to help send stranded travelers back to downtown areas, said Wang Jiadong, chairman of the board with the Capital International Airport Co Ltd.

 

According to Wang, the foggy weather began in Beijing at 3 AM on Wednesday, with the visibility in many places being less than 50 meters.

 

The airport authorities launched security countermeasures against the weather at 3:40 AM and started to cancel flights by large numbers at 6:30 AM.

 

By 12 AM, the visibility at the Capital International Airport was less than 100 meters, with 200 flights being delayed and 30 more called off.

 

International flights destined for the Capital International Airport were either diverted to Pudong Airport in Shanghai or to the airport in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

 

The ground guarantee departments of the airport temporarily called in more than 200 employees who had to suspend their Spring Festival holiday and were assigned with the missions ranging from answering inquiries of passengers, disseminating information, offering guidance, cleaning to patrolling around the terminal.

 

Sections of seven Beijing and 10 Tianjin highways were also forced to close temporarily because of the heavy fog smothering north China on Wednesday morning.

 

Weather forecast given by the Central Meteorological Observatory says that the sky will be cleared of the fog late Wednesday and the fog will totally disappear from its affected areas by Thursday morning.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2007)