Flights resume at Germany’s Cologne airport after security incident

Departures have resumed at Germany’s Cologne/Bonn Airport after a brief halt on Friday morning due to a security incident.

The airport’s security checkpoint was closed at around 6:30 (0530 GMT) and the security area of Terminals 1 and 2 was evacuated by the police, a police spokesman said.

Departures were disrupted for around two and a half hours, according to an airport spokesman. Around 12 flights were affected and were due to take off late, with no cancellations reported.

Arrivals were not disrupted by the closure of the security checkpoint.

“Air travellers are now streaming into the air security checkpoint area, where they are being checked again before they can board their flights,” a police spokesman told dpa.

An initial investigation revealed that a bag undergoing security checks was handed to its owner despite being selected for extra screening.

The police spokesman said it was unclear whether a new security process introduced the previous day was responsible for the error.