Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) will cut its domestic flights from July 15 to September 25 due to frequent thunder storms, General Administration of Civil Aviation said on Friday.

The administration said that a total of 584 flights will be cut, mainly those due to depart between 5 PM and 8 PM, when thunder storms are most likely to occur.

Most of the flights due to be cut are routes to popular cities like Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, both in east China, and Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Temporary and charter flights of domestic and foreign aviation companies, in and out of the airport, will also be limited during this period.

Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines are all involved in the flight cuts.

China has seen more thunderstorms this year compared with previous years, according to the predictions by China's Meteorological Administration.

BCIA is the busiest airport in China and accounts for one quarter of the country's flights.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2006)