Airport reopens after bomb scare

Leeds Bradford Airport has reopened after a bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion was on a suspicious package.

The terminal was evacuated on Saturday night and flights were diverted after the alert was raised just after 8pm.

The Airport was shut for more than four hours with inbound passengers diverted to other airports including Newcastle and East Midlands.

West Yorkshire Police put a cordon in place at the airport and moved people away from the area.

They said enquiries were continuing into the circumstances of the alert, although the incident is not believed to have been “malicious or terror-related”.

In a statement, they said: “Following established procedures to protect passenger and public safety a cordon was put in place as a precaution. The airport was closed for a short time whilst the matter was being investigated.

“Officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team attended and the item was subject to a controlled explosion.”

The last flight to land was the Ryanair service from Krakow at 7.37pm. The police were alerted at 8.09pm, and the terminal was subsequently evacuated.

Affected incoming flights included Jet2’s services from Alicante, Reus and Zakinthos, Ryanair services from Dublin and Gdansk, and KLM’s flight from Amsterdam.

No Saturday departures were affected with the final flight out of the airport having left for Krakow at 8.21pm.