All of the flights to and from Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv, scheduled for Friday, were cancelled as the airport has been blanketed by thick fog.

The fog is also impeding the landing ad taking off of planes at the airport in the capital Sofia. There have been cancelled numerous flights to Athens, Varna, Amsterdam, Vienna, etc., authorities reported.

As the meteorological conditions were the same on Thursday, a total of 33 flights to Sofia have been redirected to Plovdiv.

Although Sofia airport has been reopened during the day as conditions improved briefly, 21 flights had to be cancelled by that time.

As the day progressed, the fog grew thicker, prompting the country's Transport Ministry to activate contingency plans that will send flights to other airports in the country.

Horizontal visibility at the airport did not exceed 200 metres throughout the day, but it is certified to operate only when the visibility is at least 350 metres.

Flights from and to Sofia and Plovdiv airports will resume once the fog lifts, but Bulgarian meteorologists expect that to happen no earlier than Saturday or Sunday.

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