More than 100 flights at Beijing Capital International Airport were delayed and five bus routes to the city limits, including Yanqing county and Tanzhe Temple, were cancelled due to an unexpected snow early yesterday morning.

Li Shunbo, a press officer at the Beijing International Airport, said more than 100 airlines were delayed because of bad weather. The ice and water on the runway couldn't be cleared quickly enough and the snow restricted visibility.

"We have a regular contingency plan every winter, but this year's snow is almost two weeks early," he said.

Chen Min, a 27-year-old engineer who planned to fly from Beijing to Guangzhou, was grounded in an Air China plane for more than six hours. He received no explanation.

"Most of us didn't have breakfast in the morning and were just provided with a small piece of bread each," he said.

China Southern Airlines' call center said their inbound flights to Beijing were not affected, but all the outbound flights due to take off yesterday morning had been delayed.

The Beijing Capital Airport's official website yesterday confirmed similar delays were affecting almost all airlines.

Transport in downtown Beijing was unaffected with bus lines operating normally and no reports of large accidents, according to the Beijing traffic management bureau.

Zhang Guifang, an official with the Beijing Public Transport Holding Company, the group in charge of Beijing's bus system, said 2,000 volunteers and 1,000 security guards were deployed to downtown areas and tourist spots to ensure a steady flow of traffic.

Due to the heavy snow, five bus routes to the city's surrounding areas like Yanqing, Lingshan, and Tanzhe Temple, were canceled.

More than 3,000 employees of the bus company were asked to clean the snow on the main streets early yesterday morning.

According to Zhang, they will add another 300 buses to its regular service to connect with subway stations.

In addition, 5,000 volunteers will be posted at bus stations from 6:30 am to assist the public.

"Everybody fought to get onto the bus really quickly because of the cold weather and I had to struggle to get in," said Xu Weimin, a 28-year-old teacher who regularly takes the bus.

The Beijing meteorological bureau revealed most bridges and roads were likely to be covered in ice over the evening and warned drivers to be careful.

"We will spread salt on affected roads to make them less slippery, and we suggest drivers to allow longer distances between cars to reduce accidents," Li Jing, a police officer in the Beijing traffic management bureau, said.

To protect the public from falling branches along the city's streets, the forestry bureau sent several groups to clean away the heavy snow.

The Beijing meteorological bureau predicted the city would experience warmer weather from Tuesday.