Two airports were closed, stranding 400 passengers, after heavy snow fell in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, an airport official said on Tuesday.

Service was expected to resume at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, said an official of the Urumqi International Airport headquarters.

The airport in Yining City was closed at 1 p.m. by the city's first snow this year. Ten flights from Urumqi, capital of the region, to Yining were delayed, which stranded nearly 400 passengers in the Urumqi airport.

Another flight, from Urumqi to Tacheng City, was canceled. About 100 passengers were stranded and some changed their flights.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2008)