Some 165 passengers and six crew escaped unhurt from a plane that skidded off the runway at Dortmund airport early today after the pilot aborted take off, a spokesman for airline Air Berlin said.

"A combination of the snowy weather and the speed the plane was travelling at forced the plane to skid off the runway," she said, adding there had been no need for an emergency evacuation and there were no injuries.

The Air Berlin Boeing 737 had been heading to Las Palmas. Dortmund airport, in northern Germany, has been closed until further notice and passengers sent to other airports.

The pilot had decided to abort take off at the last moment due to a technical irregularity, the spokesman said.

Large parts of Germany have experienced heavy snowfall in the last few days, making travel hazardous.