China snow storms cancel 3,250 flights

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's worst snow storms in decades forced the cancellation of more than 3,250 flights over the six days through noon on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

The weather also delayed 5,550 flights and caused 380 planes to be diverted, Xinhua quoted the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China as saying.

However, the administration said airlines still carried 3.17 million passengers from China's 52 major airports between January 23 and 29, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, partly by flying larger planes, Xinhua reported.

Authorities said all the country's main airports were open on Thursday after closures earlier in the week, but the national weather forecaster said snow and sleet would continue to hit parts of central, eastern and southern China in the next 10 days.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Rory Channing)