Flights delayed at perth as Fog covers the city

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HUNDREDS of passengers travelling to and from Perth airport faced long delays this morning as a blanket of thick fog hung over the city. Aircraft arriving and departing after 7.10am were delayed by up to 45 minutes, including some Skywest and Qantas flights.

A South African Airways flight from Johannesburg had to hold off for 30 minutes, and a Virgin aircraft scheduled to land at 8.25am touched down at 8.51am.

The airport is now operating normally. An airport spokesman said flights before 7.10am, when the fog rolled in, were not affected.

The fog also caused shipping delays at Fremanle wharf. Fremantle Ports said two general cargo vessels birthed 90 minutes behind schedule because of a lack of visibility to manoeuvre them into the harbour. A pilot vessel also had to escort a ship through a yachting event and into Gage Roads due to the weather conditions. Fremantle Ports spokesperson Ainslee De Voss said: “The fog was really thick around the harbour this morning.”

“The officer on duty in the signal station within the main Fremantle Ports building told me he could not even see the Maritime Museum next door.” The Bureau of Meteorology said the fog was caused by yesterday’s rain adding moisture to the ground and clear skies overnight with light winds.

“We are expecting this to lift this morning,” BoM spokesman Darryl Vink said “There is absolutely no possibility this will happen tomorrow morning, there is a front approaching and we can expect strong winds.

“We will have plenty of moisture in the ground but the formula for fog will not be there because we will be getting plenty of strong winds.” The Weather Bureau expects the fog to lift by about 10am and a clear afternoon to follow. Wintry condititions will return tomorrow and rain is expected for most of next week.

source: Perth Now

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