By james art A major international airport serving the UK’s second-largest city was evacuated and all flights grounded for several hours on Wednesday due to a security alert.
Police in the West Midlands in central England ordered a partial closure of Birmingham Airport after receiving reports of a suspicious vehicle.
Airport authorities advised passengers not to travel, while those already waiting for flights were forced to leave the terminals on foot with their luggage.
“While we apologize for the inconvenience and disruption, the safety and security of everyone at the airport was our number one priority,” it said in a statement.
West Midlands Police said the evacuation was a “precautionary measure” while the vehicle was searched and assessed.
“Following a search by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EDO) team, the vehicle was deemed safe. The vehicle is no longer being treated as suspicious,” he added.
Birmingham Airport is the seventh busiest airport in the UK by passenger numbers and is used as a base of operations for easyJet, Ryanair, TUI Airways and Jet2.com.
Its busiest routes are to and from Dublin, Dubai, Amsterdam, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife South.
“Operations will slowly return to normal,” an airport spokesman said. “All passengers are advised to check their airline for the latest flight information.”
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated channel.)