Almost 400 passengers were stranded at an airport in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region due to low visibility caused by heavy fog, an airport spokesman said on Wednesday.

Dense fog has blanketed the airport since early Wednesday morning, he said, adding that 300 to 400 passengers were still waiting to depart.

He said that all passengers were likely to depart before 3:30 p.m. because the fog had started to dissipate.

Visibility at the airport was expected to reach 800 meters. The standard for take-offs is 550 m and 800 m for landings.

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2008)