The terminal at Geneva Airport in Switzerland was evacuated on Tuesday morning. A traveler had opened a door that he should not have opened. This triggered a security alert.
The cantonal police decided that the terminal must be evacuated immediately as a precautionary measure. All travelers had to undergo another security check. The incident happened briefly around 5:44 am. The eviction was ordered by the police at 6:10 am. Those affected criticize that there was hardly any information on site and at most it was said that the evacuation was for safety reasons.
The passengers then had to gather in front of the terminal building and wait there for further action. Some report that one or the other passenger is said to have behaved in panic. However, the all-clear could be given after just half an hour, so that flight operations could be resumed. However, many criticize the fact that information was still scarce, so that there was a real run on the Siko lines, because many are said to have feared that they would miss their flights.
The alarm was initially raised at 5:44 am in the arrival zone. At 6:10 a.m., the cantonal police decided that the security area must also be evacuated. As a result, these people also had to go through the Siko again. The tourist who accidentally opened the alarmed door was located. It should show that it was an accident and that there was no threat.
The security checkpoints did not resume operations until 7:45 am. Since all travelers had to be checked (again), long queues formed. Numerous flights are said to have been delayed by up to three hours due to the incident. Flights to France were not affected as they were handled in a part of the terminal that was not affected. However, the passengers of arriving machines were initially not allowed to disembark and had to wait on board.