Air Traffic Disrupted at Munich Airport After Smoke Detected in Control Tower.
Flights at Munich Airport were suspended for nearly two hours on Sunday evening after staff detected a smell of smoke in the air traffic control tower, an airport spokesperson told AFP.
As a precaution, the tower was evacuated and all take-offs and landings were halted from 8:33pm local time (1833 GMT) while authorities investigated the source of the odour. Flight operations resumed after the situation was deemed safe.
Flight operations resumed at 10:15pm local time, the airport told AFP, bringing the nearly two-hour disruption to an end. However, Munich Airport warned on its website that delays could persist as airlines and air traffic controllers worked to restore normal schedules following the suspension.
A technical malfunction was identified as the source of the smell in the control tower, a Munich Airport spokesperson told AFP, adding that the issue had been resolved.
Munich Airport is Germany’s second-busiest aviation hub after Frankfurt Airport, handling millions of passengers each year and serving as a major gateway for domestic and international travel.
A spokesperson for Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), Germany’s air traffic control operator, said the late shift had been brought in ahead of schedule to staff a backup control tower at the airport, helping maintain operations while the main tower was evacuated.
