Malta International Airport this afternoon evacuated its terminal after airport security flagged an item of baggage which contained diving equipment that was found to have traces of a suspicious substance during hold luggage screening.

The Airport said that the baggage which belonged to a British citizen was checked-in for a flight to Manchester.

Once the bomb disposal unit cleared the item of luggage, the airport resumed operations. The airport is now back to normal operations however, it asked departing passengers to visit www.maltairport.com for their flight details.

“We apologise for the inconvenience but safety and security demand that such actions are taken in these circumstances. Malta International Airport thanks the security team for flagging the item in question, all state authorities and airport stakeholders for their full cooperation and airport users for their patience and understanding.

“Despite the incident occurring at a busy period for the airport, operations were able to resume as early as possible thanks to everyone’s collaboration,” said CEO Markus Klaushofer.

Malta International Airport kept the public updated through its social media channels www.facebook.com/maltairport and www.twitter.com/maltairport.

Aerial photograph of MIA taken by Kurt Arrigo.

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