Stansted Airport fire: Flight departures delayed and security closed at major London airport after small blaze
Flight departures have been suspended at Stansted Airport after a small fire broke out in a lounge early on Wednesday morning.
The flames were extinguished by the Airport Fire Service around 3.30am and no passengers were harmed. The airport said in a statement that the area was immediately evacuated due to a “significant amount of smoke”, despite the quelling of the fire.
Security remains closed and departures have been suspended. “We are awaiting clearance from the emergency services to re-open the departure lounge and start processing passengers through security again,” the airport said in a later statement.
It added: “Teams are working hard to extract smoke from the area and ensure it is safe for people to enter.”
Passengers took to social media to complain about the chaos and lack of communication from airport staff. One user said: “Staff won’t communicate with any passengers. Took an hour and a half for an update. TV screens still say ‘board’ or ‘go to gate’ and you actually can’t get to the gate, causing a massive pile up of passengers.”
Another post read: “There are thousands of people now outside in the cold, as well as inside. If the fire is out, get us all through. It’s cold, building up quickly, and is becoming more and more unsafe the longer you leave this.”
At 06:00am security had reopened. But the airport warned there could be delays and urged passengers to check the status of their flights.