Morning fog causes major delays at Melbourne airport

SYDNEY, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A thick fog caused major delays at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport on Monday, with several flights having to be cancelled due to poor visibility.

The disruption has also flowed through to airports around Australia with Qantas and Virgin Airlines forced to shut down three flights from Sydney and another three from Brisbane.

Jetstar also cancelled two return flights from the Gold Coast, while Tigerair were reported to have cancelled at least one flight and said 16 other services would be delayed due to the fog.

"Planes have prepared themselves by carrying extra fuel in case they need to make a few attempts to land." Victorian Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Newham said.

Weather conditions also impact heavily on traffic outside the airport.

"When visibility is reduced, it's bound to impact traffic a bit," Newham said.

"There are reports motorists can see just 50 metres ahead at Tullamarine Airport."

While flights are expected to return to normal by mid morning, the backlog of delayed passengers may still impact airport operations.

No international flights have been affected. Enditem