Bomb threat at Stuttgart Airport leads to air traffic disruption

A young man caused huge traffic chaos at Stuttgart Airport with a bomb threat and hindered thousands of people on their journey. Due to a police operation in the security area of ​​the airport, air traffic had to be interrupted for around an hour and a half between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., the federal police said.

After the 24-year-old told an airport employee after the security check that he was carrying a bomb in his luggage, the federal police had to clear the terminals in the security area and also suspended arrivals and departures, a spokesman said.

After a short time, the measure was able to be ended again. According to the federal police, an actual dangerous situation could be ruled out by searching the affected area.

The 24-year-old man was barred from his flight to Hurghada, Egypt, police said. An investigation was initiated against him on suspicion of disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes. He is now at large again.

Air traffic was then gradually resumed and passenger checks were opened.

Almost 30 flights and about three thousand people affected

A spokeswoman for the airport said that almost thirty flights and around three thousand people were affected by the security measures. Nine flights had to be canceled completely. A further nine flights were rerouted, mainly via Nuremberg Airport and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport. In addition, there were delays of up to three hours on eleven flights.

“The evening hours are the rush hour at the airport, with many flights scheduled. If there is an interruption, then it will be tough,” said a spokeswoman for the airport.

According to the Federal Police, all passengers had to undergo another security check because the security area was cleared. It then took some time until the situation normalized.