London Heathrow”s Terminal 4 has now re-opened following a security alert on 3 July, that saw 100 flights cancelled and passengers undergo further searches at departure gates.
After a day that saw a spate of security scares across the British capital, including the evacuation of Hammersmith tube station in west London at rush hour on Tuesday morning, Terminal 4 was the focus of attention just before midday.
The departure lounge had to be evacuated from the busy BAA-run terminal that handles the majority of British Airways long-haul services, after a suspect bag was discovered, with reports of hundreds of passengers queuing outside the building and into the car park.
”A suspect bag was identified shortly before midday in Terminal 4 [and] as an extra precaution, it was decided to perform secondary searches on all departing passengers at the aircraft gate,” said a BAA spokesman.
”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, while contingency plans have now been activated to ensure we are able to effectively manage the increase in resources this requires.”
The incident is the latest transport scare to hit the UK following the thwarted car bomb attacks in central London and the front of Glasgow Airport being rammed by a jeep on Saturday evening. Jittery passengers have been urged to carry on as normal by new Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.
British Airways, Qantas, KLM, Kenyan Airways, Iberia and TAM fly from Terminal 4.