Add CategoryTHOUSANDS of passengers on Melbourne to Adelaide flights have been diverted back to Victoria after “very, very unusual” thick fog made it dangerous to land.
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Low fog started moving over the city around 7am, with several pilots engaging in failed attempts to land in the tough conditions, before returning to Melbourne.
There are currently 15 diversions, including two international flights via Singapore Airlines and China Southern Airlines, while the remaining flights are domestic 737s from Melbourne, Avalon, Sydney and Brisbane.
A number of other inbound flights were also cancelled.
Most outbound flights from Adelaide were able to take off as planned, with pilots able to see several hundred metres ahead from the ground.
Some flights have been stuck in holding patterns over Bendigo, while others landed at Melbourne Airport.
As of 11.15am, fog started to clear in Adelaide and the first flight — QF590 from Perth — landed.
Adelaide Airport spokesman Mark Williams said it was “the longest low visibility period in 12 years”.
“Low fog only happens two to three times a year here, it’s very, very unusual.”
A Melbourne Airport spokeswoman said the flights returning to Melbourne had not caused problems to scheduling.
AirServices Australia spokesman Tim de Raadt said conditions were improving, “but these things can change quite quickly”.
He said not all airports are equipped with “Category 3B landing equipent”, but Melbourne Airport is one of them.
To obtain a Category 3B status, three things are needed: the flight crew needs to be trained with the proceedures, there needs to be the right equipment on the plane, and the airport itself needs to have the in-ground infrastructure, he said.
He said he expected the backlog of flights to “take a while to clear”.
Meteorologist David Grant said clear skies and light winds across Adelaide were the perfect combination for fog formation this morning.
“They (clear skies and light winds) are the two key ingredients,” he said.
“The weather system that aids those (fog) conditions is a high pressure system and that’s what we have extending across South Australia at the moment.”
Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for their flight details.
THE FLIGHTS AFFECTED INCLUDE:
These flights are now out of holding patterns and heading back to Adelaide:
QF671 Melbourne - Adelaide diverted back to Melbourne
SQ279 (Singapore Airlines) Singapore - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
VA211 Melbourne - Adelaide cancelled
VA1447 Adelaide - Gold Coast cancelled (due to cancellation of inbound aircraft)
QF677 Melbourne - Adelaide cancelled
TT447 Melbourne - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
TT446 (Tigerair) Adelaide - Melbourne cancelled
VA1384 Brisbane - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
CSN663 (China Southern) Guangzhou - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
QF1599 Brisbane - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
VA402 Sydney - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
QF735 Sydney - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
VA412 Sydney - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
QF735 Canberra - Adelaide cancelled
VA213 Melbourne - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
QF675 Melbourne - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
QF739 Sydney - Adelaide diverted to Melbourne
VA412 Sydney - Adelaide diverted to Canberra
QF676 Adelaide - Melbourne cancelled
QF738 Adelaide - Sydney cancelled
JQ632 Avalon - Adelaide diverted to Avalon
More to come.