The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, which was closed due to Monday's earthquake in southwest China, has resumed operating at full capacity after repairs on Wednesday, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

However, some passenger flights would still be cancelled in order to accommodate flights for rescue and disaster relief supplies and personnel, a CAAC official told Xinhua.

"This is the top priority and I hope the passengers can understand," he said.

The CAAC also asked all airlines to carry stranded passengers on return flights after flying in emergency materials to Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan.

The CAAC has designated 55 airplanes from six airlines to transport 7,450 rescue workers to earthquake-stricken regions.

Sichuan Television broadcast a report on Wednesday afternoon, saying all inbound flights were cancelled while some outbound flights had resumed to transport the stranded passengers.

Facilities at the airport were damaged when the quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale and centered on Wenchuan, 100 kilometers from Chengdu, occurred on Monday. It reopened Tuesday, but its closure had stopped 169 inbound flights and 108 outbound flights.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)