Heathrow passengers queue in package alert
Hundreds of passengers had to queue in the rain today after the identification of a suspect package led to a part-evacuation of a terminal at the UK’s biggest airport.
The package discovery just before midday led to long delays for passengers at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 in west London.
Airport operator BAA said that the baggage incident had led to a decision to search all departing passengers again, with the departure lounge being partially evacuated.
Long lines of passengers, who had to endure showers between bursts of sunshine, built up outside the terminal and departing flights were delayed.
A BAA spokesperson said: “A suspect bag was identified shortly before midday in Terminal 4. As an extra precaution, it was decided to perform secondary searches on all departing passengers at the aircraft gate.
“In order to facilitate the secondary search process, a decision was made by the police to partially evacuate the departure lounge and re-screen the passengers.
“This process will cause delays to some flights departing from Terminal 4. Contingency plans have now been activated to ensure that we are able to effectively manage the increase in resource that this secondary search requires.”
