Passengers on a Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Brisbane were delayed for nearly 2 hours on Tuesday afternoon, thanks to an unanticipated stowaway.

What's thought to be a green tree snake was found inside the cargo hold of Virgin flight VA337 shortly before departure.

Cabin crew spotted the reptile and quickly shut the freight door, locking it inside before calling for assistance.

That's when professional snake catcher Mark Pelley, referred to as 'The Snake Hunter', was hired to deal with the slippery burglar.

'I got a call from Virgin Australia. They said, 'There's a snake on an airplane, can you come now?' I raced out there,' Pelley informed Daily Mail Australia.

He said it took him about half an hour to reach the airport, however getting through security added another delay.

'It took me about 30 minutes to get to the airport, then security took another 15 minutes to let me through.'

By that point, guests had actually currently boarded and were left waiting on the tarmac while the circumstance was handled.

A green tree snake was spotted on board in the cargo hold of the Virgin Flight

Pelley described that he only had one shot to capture the snake, cautioning that it was little adequate to vanish into the inner operations of the airplane.

'If I didn't get it on the first go, it could've left behind the panels and into the aircraft. So I needed to rush and get it quickly,' he said.

'Thankfully, it didn't get too far.'

It took Pelley simply 30 seconds to capture the snake and secure it in a container.

He later on confirmed the creature was a green tree snake - a non-venomous species native to Queensland, where the airplane had flown in from earlier in the day.

'It's likely someone unintentionally loaded it in their luggage, and it went out during the flight,' he described.

Pelley applauded Virgin Australia for their handling of the incident.

'This kind of thing could take place anytime, throughout Australia. At no point were any travelers at risk,' he said.

Pelley had the ability to record the snake before it was able to slide inside the aircraft

The snake is thought to have its method onto the aircraft by means of a travelers luggage

The snake will be handed over to ecological authorities and is expected to be returned to the wild in Queensland.

While Pelley has reacted to airport calls previously, this was a first for him.

'I've been called to the airport in the past, however never ever into the airplane itself. I have actually dealt with brown snakes in offices, inside infrastructure and support structures.'

'Once, I even needed to clear a snake off the runway. I had to drive my automobile onto the tarmac to remove it, airplanes were delayed just to let me do my job.'

Flight VA337 was initially scheduled to depart at 4:10 p.m., but didn't take off until approximately 6:23 p.m.

. It landed in Brisbane at around 8:30 p.m.

BrisbaneQueenslandVirgin Australia