Birmingham Airport temporarily suspended all flights on Tuesday after a security incident involving an Aer Lingus plane. West Midlands Police were called at about 16:00 BST following a report of a suspicious item on a flight to Belfast.
The aircraft, which had taken off shortly before, was diverted and landed back at the airport just after 16:00 BST. All passengers and crew were evacuated, and specialist officers, including the dog unit, searched the plane. The police later confirmed the item was not suspicious and the incident was treated as a false call.
Aer Lingus stated that the undeclared item on their regional flight from Birmingham to Belfast posed no security risk, and teams were working to accommodate affected passengers. A Birmingham Airport spokesperson added that the aircraft landed safely and urged customers due to travel to proceed to the airport as normal.
Several flights were delayed by more than two hours, according to departure updates on the airport's website. East Midlands Airport confirmed it received diverted flights, including a Ryanair service from Lanzarote. Train services at nearby Birmingham International railway station were also halted, with Network Rail reopening all lines by about 18:20 BST.
Passenger Joanne Roberts, stuck on a plane to Egypt, described the lack of official information, saying staff only told them about the mayday call and that updates would be given every 20 minutes. By 18:10 BST, she reported that the runway was expected to reopen soon.
