Thick smog closes airports and highways across China
Highways closed and flights cancelled as Beijing records extremely high levels of air pollution
Update: As of 11:00am on Wednesday, the Web site of Beijing's Capital International Airport shows that about a dozen domestic flights between Beijing and major northern Chinese cities have been cancelled or delayed. Up to 15 international flights have been cancelled. Affected destinations include Tokyo, Istanbul, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur, Chicago, Franfurt and Helsinki.
Thick smog covered almost one seventh of China yesterday, causing traffic chaos on highways and disruptions at airports.
Serious air pollution was recorded in northern cities such as Beijing and Shijiazhuang and southern cities such as Wuhan and Chengdu .
It was the first time the ministry had released satellite data on the extent of smog, which had also plagued China on three other occasions this month, but it did not release the actual images.
Satellite images released by the US space agency Nasa drew millions of clicks from mainland internet users.
