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Hamburg Airport flights resume after police operation

Rebecca Staudenmaier
June 1, 2022

German federal police have now given the all-clear after temporarily halting all departing flights and clearing the security checkpoint at Hamburg Airport.

https://p.dw.com/p/4C8Ep
Dozens of passengers wait in front of a closed security checkpoint at the Hamburg Airport
Scores of passengers were stuck in the airport's terminals, after authorities cleared the security zone and halted all departing flightsImage: Marcus Brandt/dpa/picture alliance

Outbound planes at Hamburg Airport were allowed to take off after all departures were halted during a police operation on Wednesday.

The airport gave the all-clear, roughly half an hour after its first statement on the disruption, saying the "police operation" had concluded.

As a result of the operation, however, the airport warned that delays were expected for the rest of the day.

Why was there a police operation?

Federal police — whose responsibilities include border policing and public transport — cleared out the central security checkpoint at the airport after a bag wasn't correctly screened.

A passenger exited security with a piece of luggage that wasn't thoroughly checked by agents, a police spokesperson told news agency dpa.

The person continued on through security, triggering the police response.

A police car sits in front of a terminal at the Hamburg Airport
German police cleared the central security checkpoint at the Hamburg AirportImage: Marcus Brandt/dpa/picture alliance

In order to reduce any potential threats to the outgoing flights, authorities halted departing planes.

After reviewing security camera footage, authorities were able to locate the passenger and thoroughly check their bag — which was found to be "completely harmless," the spokesperson said.

Webcam footage from the airport showed numerous planes parked at departure gates prior to the all-clear, as well as scores of passengers lined up and gathered in the central terminal areas.

The international airport is one of the largest in northern Germany.

Edited by Mark Hallam