Bomb threat at Stuttgart airport halts flights for 90 minutes
A 24-year-old man told staff he had a bomb in his luggage, prompting German federal police to suspend flights and evacuate the security area.
Stuttgart Airport suspended flight operations for about ninety minutes on Monday afternoon after a 24-year-old man told an airport employee in the security area that he had a bomb in his luggage, German federal police said.
Flights were halted between 4.30pm and 6pm and the entire security area was evacuated, with passengers moved to the terminals' public areas, federal police said. Officers searched the area thoroughly and ruled out any genuine danger before operations resumed.
Around 3,000 people and nearly thirty flights were affected, an airport spokeswoman said. Nine flights were cancelled outright and nine others diverted, mostly to Nuremberg and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, while eleven were delayed by up to three hours.
The man was removed from his flight to Hurghada, Egypt, and later released, police said, after federal police opened an investigation against him on suspicion of disturbing public order by threatening a criminal offence.
All passengers had to go through security screening again once the area had been cleared, federal police said, and it took some further time for the evening schedule to return to normal. Passengers whose flights were cancelled, diverted or delayed are entitled to compensation and assistance under EU air passenger rights rules, German broadcaster SWR Aktuell reported, advising travellers to check with their airline for the latest status of their journey before heading to the airport.
What we know
- Stuttgart Airport suspended flights for about ninety minutes on Monday after a 24-year-old man told a staff member in the security area he had a bomb in his luggage, federal police said.
- Around 3,000 people and nearly thirty flights were affected; nine flights were cancelled and nine diverted, mainly to Nuremberg and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, an airport spokeswoman said.
- Police searched the area and found no genuine danger; the man was barred from his flight to Hurghada and later released, with an investigation opened against him.
Why it matters for Europe
Stuttgart is one of Germany's busier regional airports, and the disruption hit during its evening peak, when many flights are scheduled, an airport spokeswoman said. Nine flights had to be diverted to Nuremberg and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports and nine were cancelled outright, with eleven more delayed by up to three hours, showing how a single security alert at one checkpoint can ripple across a region's air traffic and the schedules of nearby airports.
Bomb threats that force the evacuation of an airport's security area are treated as a serious matter by German federal police even when, as on Monday, a search afterwards finds no actual device, because the whole area has to be cleared, searched and re-screened before any flight can take off again, extending delays well beyond the original 90-minute suspension.
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Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 1 countries.
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Questions and answers
- What caused the disruption at Stuttgart Airport?
- A 24-year-old man told an airport employee in the security area that he had a bomb in his luggage, German federal police said.
- How many flights were affected?
- Nearly thirty flights were affected: nine were cancelled, nine diverted mainly to Nuremberg and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, and eleven delayed by up to three hours.
- Was any explosive device found?
- No. Police searched the area and ruled out a genuine danger; the man was barred from his flight and later released pending an investigation.
This article was written with AI assistance from 3 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.