More than 100 flights delayed as thick fog envelopes major southwest city in China

More than 100 flights and thousands of commuters were delayed on Sunday at the international airport in Chengdu, Sichuan province, after thick fog enveloped the southwest city for the first time this year, mainland media reports.

The poor visibility caused what were described as “the worst disruption in years” at one of the world’s busiest airports, with two flights cancelled and 10 others diverted, prompting the authorities to issue the airport’s first red alert for flight delays in its more than half a century of operation, the media outlet ThePaper reported on Sunday.

More than 130 flights were delayed on Sunday morning and more than 10,000 passengers were stranded at the airport, according to ThePaper.cn

From early Sunday to 9am, no flights took off or landed at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, which according to official figures was among the world’s top 30 busiest airport last year and the fourth busiest on the mainland.

The airport handles an average of 805 flights a day, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Early on Sunday, the authorities upgraded the flight delay alert from yellow to red – the highest in a four-tier system and the first time it’s been raised ar the airport since it went into operation in the 1950s.