Birmingham Airport incident information: Flights delayed after bomb scare forces hundreds of passengers to evacuate

Flights have been delayed after a bomb scare pressured hundreds of passengers to evacuate Birmingham Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

Holidaymakers had been ordered to depart the airport, which is the seventh largest within the UK, as West Midlands Police bomb disposal consultants rushed to examine a suspicious automobile parked close to the constructing.

Flights to Paris, Madrid and Tenerife had been amongst these delayed as passengers had been suggested to contact their airways for extra info.

“Following a search by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team the vehicle was deemed to be safe. The vehicle is no longer being treated as suspicious,” police stated on X.

“The safety of all was our primary concern and as a precautionary measure the airport was partially evacuated so the vehicle could be searched and assessed.”

Earlier this 12 months, many passengers had been delayed at Birmingham airport due to lengthy waits for safety queues, with some passengers lacking flights.

The airport boss hit again at criticism of the delays, saying a last-minute choice by authorities had created “a very difficult situation for us”.

Chief govt Nick Barton stated most passengers had been getting via safety in beneath half-an-hour, with further procedures in place to deal with peaks.

The West Midlands hub was the one main UK airport to adjust to the 1 June 2024 deadline for putting in “Next Generation” safety scanners.

They are designed to permit safety employees to get a a lot clearer image of any doubtlessly threatening objects in passengers’ cabin baggage – and allow travellers to carry a lot bigger portions of liquids, aerosols and gels (“LAGs”) via the checkpoint than the 100ml container restrict.

Birmingham airport invested £60m within the new gear forward of the summer season peak. The intention was to speed up the safety course of.

But following ministers’ choice to revert to the earlier 100ml restrict, many extra luggage than anticipated are being rejected – and eliminated for a hand search.

“Unfortunately, unforeseen events have got in the way of a good strategy and created a very difficult situation for us here at Birmingham.

“We are still struggling with the consequences of these changes, but we’re working on our plan to improve things,” Mr Barton instructed The Independent.

The timing of right now’s incident was not as unhealthy because it might have been: a Wednesday afternoon in late October just isn’t a peak time, although some half-term holidaymakers will probably be affected.

Birmingham Airport is ready to reopen following a mass evacuation after reviews of a suspicious automobile outdoors the constructing.

A spokesperson stated: “Following a police investigation, operations are now returning to normal. If travelling today, customers are advised to check their latest flight information and arrive at the airport in line with their check-in opening times.

“Whilst we apologise for any inconvenience and disruption, the safety and security of everyone at the airport was our number one priority as we worked through this incident with police partners.”