Birmingham Airport reopens after 'suspicious item' reported on plane to Belfast disrupts flights
Flights were temporarily suspended at Birmingham Airport after a "suspicious item" was found on a plane bound for Belfast.
The aircraft was diverted shortly after take-off and landed back at the region's biggest airport just after 4pm on Tuesday.
All passengers and crew were evacuated as specialist officers including a dog unit searched the plane.
West Midlands Police confirmed the incident was dealt with as a "false call with very good intent" and officers have confirmed the item "is not suspicious".
The airport was reopened to the public at 6pm.
A spokeswoman for the airport said: "Birmingham Airport reopened at 6pm following a security incident on an aircraft.
"All passengers and crew disembarked safely. Customers are advised to check with their airline, or on the Birmingham Airport website, before checking in due to potential delays."
An earlier statement issued by the airport confirmed flights had temporarily halted.
It read: "Birmingham Airport has temporarily suspended operations due to a security incident on an aircraft.
“The aircraft landed safely and all passengers and crew have disembarked.
"All customers due to travel should make their way to the airport and check in as normal.”
A spokesperson for the airport added that advice to customers expecting to fly today was to "still turn up" but to expect some disruption.
A photo submitted to the Express & Star shows emergency service vehicles on a runway.
According to Flightradar, several flights which were scheduled to land at Birmingham Airport today were diverted to Manchester Airport.
This includes the Ryanair flight from Berlin, which took off at 4.18pm and was due to arrive in Birmingham, but was diverted.
The Lufthansa airline flight from Munich was also bound for Birmingham but was diverted to Manchester, with a scheduled arrival time of 4.55pm.
