Dublin Airport security alert lifted after bomb scare

Operations at Dublin Airport were returning to normal today after the second major security alert in four days.

A spokeswoman for Dublin Airport Authority confirmed shortly after 10am that the scare had ended.

Airlines agreed a plan to resume check-in and flights.

“All security staff are entering the building first, followed by operating airport and airline staff next,” said the spokeswoman.

“Passengers who already have boarding cards will be asked to re-enter next, then those passengers who have tickets to travel today will re-enter,” she said.

Only passengers with confirmed travel arrangements today will be permitted to enter the terminal building.

A controlled explosion was carried out on the bag by the Army bomb disposal team and it was declared safe.

The rucksack had been left unattended in the arrivals hall sparking the security alert which lasted for just over two hours.

Gardaí were alerted and called in to seal off the building but after an initial inspection the Army bomb disposal team was asked to take over.

Experts inspected the suspicious bag and decided to carry out a controlled explosion.

The airport was then declared safe to resume operations just before 10am.

The spokeswoman said: “We take situations like this extremely seriously. We don’t evacuate the airport unless we deem it necessary and on this occasion it was felt necessary to do so.”

It is the second time this week the airport terminal has been evacuated following a bomb scare. On Tuesday, some 9,000 passengers and 50 flights were disrupted when a man walked into the arrivals hall and allegedly claimed he was carrying a bomb.

The man was arrested and later charged while the threat was declared a hoax after Army bomb experts examined baggage he was carrying.

Around 70 flights were directly affected by the scare today and the disruption is expected to have a severe knock-on effect on services in and out of the airport for the rest of the day.

“It will take some time for the operations to get back to normal,” the spokeswoman said.

She added that staff and passengers were evacuated within minutes of the alarm being raised just before 8am. She said people were very patient, calm and understanding and left the terminal in an orderly fashion to the normal emergency assembly points in the car parks and in other open areas.

Flights continued to land during the scare but none were allowed to take-off. Around 20 planes with passengers on board were stranded on the runway.

The Automobile Association (AA) said the security alert caused massive disruption on roads around the airport. Cars were abandoned on the Old Airport Road, which remains open, and on the M1 slip road, which was closed for a short time, according to AA spokeswoman Alison Byrne.

She advised drivers to take diversions put in place and not to leave cars behind.