Flights at Heathrow airport were briefly suspended after a suspicious item was detected by an x-ray of luggage at Terminal 3.
Metropolitan police were still working with airport authorities after the discovery at about 8am on Friday triggered a security alert.
As flights resumed, passengers complained on Twitter about the subsequent delays and long queues.
Long queue Terminal 3 Heathrow to get to security. Incident airside? @HeathrowAirport pic.twitter.com/BEOQn5lQus
— sarah kate coleman (@sarahkcoleman) May 5, 2017
If you're trying to fly out of @HeathrowAirport today, good luck to you. #Heathrow pic.twitter.com/KrMzh2gUKV
— ShannonEggleton (@ShannonEggleton) May 5, 2017
#T3 at #LHR has been shutdown and no one explain users whats going on What happened to customer service? @British_Airways @HeathrowAirport pic.twitter.com/rce0QPurhw
— Diana Daniels (@dianadaniels) May 5, 2017
A Met spokeswoman said officers were working with the airport authorities and inquiries were ongoing.
A spokesman for Heathrow said: “Departures were suspended for a short time from Terminal 3 due to a security issue. We are very sorry to any passengers whose journeys are affected. The safety and security of our passengers and colleagues is paramount.”
The security alert comes the day after a man arriving at Heathrow on a flight from Turkey was arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related crime. There is no suggestion the arrest and security alert are related.
The man, 30, was detained by the Met’s counter-terror squad as he stepped off a plane from Istanbul on Thursday evening.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said the man had been arrested on suspicion of preparing for terrorist acts and terrorist training. He remains in custody at a south London police station while officers search a property in the east of the capital.
