UPDATE 1-Cleveland airport power outage grounds flights

NEW YORK Jan 10 (Reuters) - A power outage at Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport on Sunday led U.S. airlines including Continental Airlines Inc CAL.N, Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) to temporarily suspend operations there.

Continental said in a statement that it was suspending operations until 6 p.m. EST. A spokeswoman from Delta said it was suspending operations until 3 PM, at which time it would reevaluate conditions at the airport. A spokeswoman for Southwest said that airline did not yet have a definite time for resuming its operations.

Jacqueline Mayo, a spokeswoman for the airport, said the outage was caused by road salt that contaminated the power line and caused it to erode and blow, cutting power to the main terminal and six concourses. She said a backup generator was giving power to the main terminal and four of the concourses, as well as critical areas such as the control tower, air field and operations center.

Mayo added that UAL Corp's UAUA.O United Airlines and US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N) also suspended their service, but officials from those airlines could not immediately be reached for confirmation. (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Diane Craft)