China's aviation authority has added matches and lighters to the list of forbidden goods on passenger planes.

The new ban became effective on April 8 and airports began enforcement which led to even further delays at overtaxed check-in counters.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) made the decision on April 7 and ordered all airport authorities to update security checks.

The CAAC said in an statement that "for concerns of aviation safety," travelers are no longer allowed to carry matches and lighters on any civil planes.

Chinese airports enforced rules that prohibit the carrying of liquid goods on board any domestic flights in the middle of last month. Bottlenecks have since been the norm at security checkpoints.

Shanghai airport authorities said some passengers had missed flights because of delays.

Hongqiao Airport, which serves mainly domestic flights, had suffered worse than Pudong International Airport, officials said.

On April 8, authorities partly blamed hold-ups on uncooperative passengers.

"There were passengers who berated security workers and refused to discard forbidden goods," said an official with the local airport authority. "In a couple of extreme cases, passengers threw baby powder and oil essence at security workers. Their actions held up the check-in flow by 20 minutes."

The airport authority has hired 120 extra staff to help speed up security checks at Hongqiao Airport. Eight new spots have also been set up for open-luggage checking.

A traveler, surnamed Zhu, flying to Beijing, told Shanghai Daily on April 8 that passengers were lining up in front of boxes at Hongqiao Airport to throw in lighters and matches. He could see no signs relating to the new ban.

"Some passengers are still waiting in the line to pass security checks while their planes are scheduled to take off in only five minutes," he said.

Meanwhile, fire alarms sent a China Eastern Airlines flight back to Hongqiao Airport on April 7, about 10 minutes after the aircraft took off.

No one was injured and the carrier said the fire alarms were triggered just after take-off at 8:15am on the Shanghai-Yantai City flight.

The Airbus A320 had more than 80 passengers onboard. Some passengers said the cabin had a burning smell.

The plane landed back at Hongqiao Airport at 8:25am and some passengers changed to another flight.

"When the aircraft took off, the engine sounded weird and the oil smell was strong; I could hardly breathe and some passengers were coughing," said a passenger surnamed Ge.