The latest announcement meant that some 2,000 passengers would be forced to stay overnight at the airport, Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said early Friday.

Forecasters were expecting below-freezing conditions Friday morning and the airport was having trouble getting hold of enough glycol, the liquid used to de-ice aircraft, aviation officials said in a statement late Thursday.

Civil aviation officials had therefore asked all airlines to reduce their flights by 50 percent, the statement added.

Aeroports de Paris (ADP), the company running the capital's airports, announced earlier Thursday that airlines had already been asked to cut flights by 20 percent delaying 60 flights out of Roissy.

The de-icing process had been taking 25 minutes instead of the usual 14, because of the conditions, said ADP.

Charles de Gaulle airport had only just cleared the backlog from the delays caused earlier in the week by the freezing conditions, which on Monday saw 3,000 passengers forced to spend a second night sleeping there.

Kosciusko-Morizet and junior transport minister Thierry Mariani visited the airport late Thursday to see the situation for themselves, their offices told AFP.

Officials were setting up camp-beds for the passengers, Kosciusko-Morizet told AFP.

The delays earlier this week led to angry exchanges and scuffles with police as frustrated passengers complained not just about the delays but the lack of information from the airlines.

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