Germany's Hamburg airport halts after Iran plane threat

The German air force said on its X social media account that it escorted the plane after it entered German airspace east of Berlin due to a bomb threat.

Police detain suspects as they patrol along the German-Polish border to prevent illegal migration near Klinge, Germany, September 20, 2023.  (photo credit: REUTERS/LISI NIESNER/FILE PHOTO)
Police detain suspects as they patrol along the German-Polish border to prevent illegal migration near Klinge, Germany, September 20, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/LISI NIESNER/FILE PHOTO)

Air traffic has resumed at Germany's Hamburg airport, a spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, after a police operation in response to a threat against a plane from Tehran prompted all landings and take-offs to be halted.

A federal police spokesperson earlier said officers, acting on a threat of an attack sent via email, searched a plane with 198 passengers from Tehran that had landed in the northern German city.

The German air force said on its X social media account that it escorted the plane after it entered German airspace east of Berlin due to a bomb threat.

Police interviewed passengers, which is normal procedure when a threat is classified as serious, the police spokesperson told Reuters.

A German police officer holds wristbands used to tag suspected illegal migrants after they were detained by German police during their patrol along the German-Polish border to prevent illegal migration, in Forst, Germany, September 20, 2023. (credit: Lisi Niesner/Reuters)
A German police officer holds wristbands used to tag suspected illegal migrants after they were detained by German police during their patrol along the German-Polish border to prevent illegal migration, in Forst, Germany, September 20, 2023. (credit: Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

Response to the threat

No takeoffs or landings were possible because the airport fire brigade was involved with the search, the spokesperson added.

The news came on the first day of a special meeting of the German and French governments in Hamburg, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron both attending.