Flights in and out of airports in Shanghai returned to normal on Tuesday, three days after the end of airspace controls that disrupted the travel plans of thousands of air passengers in eastern China.

Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao Airport saw over a thousand flights coming and leaving on Tuesday.

More than 30 flights to southwest China were delayed largely due to thick fog in the Chongqing Municipality, according to the website of the Shanghai Airport Authorities, but the effect of the airspace controls is over.

"After the airspace controls, we added flights every day to make up for those postponed," said Li Jingao, an official with the market management office of the Shanghai-based CAAC East China Air Traffic Management Bureau.

On Sunday, when the airspace controls ended, more than 30 flights were postponed because of the knock-on effect, Li noted.

Shanghai Airport Authorities' website showed a backlog resulted in the delay of a dozen flights on Monday.

More than 150 flights were delayed in Shanghai and about 7,000 passengers were affected during the first two days of the airspace controls. Most flights were bound for domestic destinations including Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Beijing and Dalian.

Sources at the Baiyuan airport in Guangzhou, where 1,600 passengers suffered delays on Tuesday, said several flights were still affected, but only for brief periods, with no large-scale passenger delays.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2007)