PARIS (AFP) -- Airline passengers were stranded for up to 24 hours at two French airports partly due to hand baggage security checks, airport sources said, while fog grounded thousands in Belgium.

Some 150 passengers at France's main international airport Charles de Gaulle, north of the capital, and a further 500 at Orly airport to the south saw their flights delayed as record Christmas crowds swamped terminals.

At Orly, three Corsair flights to Dakar were delayed, the airline said, with an airport source blaming the delays on passengers' being unaware of new hand baggage security rules.

As a result, "security checks take three minutes rather than the usual 15 seconds, provoking annoyance, threats and insults," the source said.

This weekend saw record numbers of travelers passing through the airports for a Christmas weekend -- nearly 45,000 at Orly and 178,000 at Charles de Gaulle, according to sources at the airports.

"We have a seen a total saturation of Orly airport" since Saturday, Corsair spokeswoman Sandrine Guillemain told AFP. "Paris Airports (ADP) does not have the capacity to ensure flights on time" in these conditions, she claimed.

The ADP airport authority however laid blame on Corsair, with a spokesman claiming the airline's aircraft had been late to arrive on Saturday. Corsair denied this.

The Corsair passengers spent the night in airport hotels and their flights left Orly on Sunday afternoon.