Flights to and from Keflavík airport are back on schedule after yesterday's evacuation and security sweep. The incidence caused a disruption of few hours in the travel schedules of thousands of passengers.
Evacuation and security sweep completed by 18:00
Yesterday at around three in the afternoon the airport was closed down due to a security breach and all passengers told to evacuate the airport and go through weapons screening again. Nearly 3,000 passengers were in the terminal when the incident took place.
The security screening proceeded quickly. The evacuation and security sweep of the terminal had been completed by 18:00, and passengers were re-admitted to the terminal shortly thereafter. Screening all the passengers who had been evacuated from the airport had been completed by 20:00, the local news site Vísir reports.
Read more: Breaking: Keflavík Airport evacuated. All passengers sent through weapons screening
According to the local newspaper Morgunblaðið the first planes which had been delayed due to the incident were allowed to depart between seven and eight in the evening, with most having been cleared to depart shortly after eight.
Caused by plane from Greenland docking at wrong gate
The security breach was caused by a plane coming from Nuuk in Greenland. The security screening at Nuuk Airport does not fulfill international standards, and passengers from Nuuk must therefore go through the security and weapons search at Keflavík before they can enter the terminal. Due to a human mistake the plane docked at the wrong gate, and the passengers from Greenland entered the terminal and mixed with other passengers.
When this mistake was discovered the terminal had to be evacuated and thorough sweep ordered and all passengers searched before they were re-admitted to the terminal.
Flights to and from Keflavík airport are back on schedule after yesterday's evacuation and security sweep. The incidence caused a disruption of few hours in the travel schedules of thousands of passengers.
Evacuation and security sweep completed by 18:00
Yesterday at around three in the afternoon the airport was closed down due to a security breach and all passengers told to evacuate the airport and go through weapons screening again. Nearly 3,000 passengers were in the terminal when the incident took place.
The security screening proceeded quickly. The evacuation and security sweep of the terminal had been completed by 18:00, and passengers were re-admitted to the terminal shortly thereafter. Screening all the passengers who had been evacuated from the airport had been completed by 20:00, the local news site Vísir reports.
Read more: Breaking: Keflavík Airport evacuated. All passengers sent through weapons screening
According to the local newspaper Morgunblaðið the first planes which had been delayed due to the incident were allowed to depart between seven and eight in the evening, with most having been cleared to depart shortly after eight.
Caused by plane from Greenland docking at wrong gate
The security breach was caused by a plane coming from Nuuk in Greenland. The security screening at Nuuk Airport does not fulfill international standards, and passengers from Nuuk must therefore go through the security and weapons search at Keflavík before they can enter the terminal. Due to a human mistake the plane docked at the wrong gate, and the passengers from Greenland entered the terminal and mixed with other passengers.
When this mistake was discovered the terminal had to be evacuated and thorough sweep ordered and all passengers searched before they were re-admitted to the terminal.
