Fog causes major delays at Melbourne airport

Melbourne   :  A thick fog caused major delays at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport on Monday, the Australian authorities said. Several domestic flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.

No international flights were, however, affected.

With visibility reduced to 50 metre, the disruption has also flowed through to airports around the country. 

Qantas and Virgin Airlines have shut down three flights from Sydney and Brisbane each, Xinhua news agency reported.

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 heavily impacted traffic outside the airport.