An airport in Guizhou province was closed for four hours on Tuesday morning because of heavy snowfall, delaying nearly 100 flights.

The snow stranded more than 4,800 passengers at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport in the provincial capital, an airport source said.

Guizhou's meteorological department said snow fell in the province's 64 counties and it was the biggest snowfall there this year.

Yao Li, a passenger due to leave for Guangzhou at 9 am but who finally left at 2:40 pm, said: "I am worried because I must go to Guangzhou to attend a meeting. I hope the snow stops."

Guan Bin, an assistant manager at the Guizhou Airports Group that runs the airport, said: "The airport has launched an emergency plan to cope with the delay. Volunteers have come to help stranded passengers."

The first flight of the day left Guiyang at 1:35 pm.

Related:

Airport back to normal after passenger chaos

Icy weather forces Kunming airport to close