Travelers were held up for nearly four hours on Sunday morning at the airport of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, due to heavy snow, according to sources with the airport's aerial control center.

Snowfall began in Wuhan from Saturday night and turned heavy on early Sunday morning, while the local temperature dropped to one degree below zero Celsius. All flights at Wuhan Tianhe Airport were suspended till 11:30 AM, when the airport reopened runways and sent workers to defrost ice on the aircraft's surface.

Two defrosters were put into use to ensure smooth operation of six flights, said the sources.

The sources added that the airport fully resumed normal operation on Sunday afternoon, and all delayed flights had taken off.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2006)