Frustrated passengers have been forced to evacuate from Melbourne and Adelaide airports after security breaches, causing long delays and missed flights.
Federal police shut down one section of a Melbourne Airport terminal and ordered passengers from a plane ready for take-off after an apparent security breach on Tuesday morning.
A Qantas passenger allegedly entered security gates at Tullamarine without being screened, which led to other passengers having to evacuate the area before being re-screened.
The airline has since apologised to customers as it investigates.
“A passenger appears to have inadvertently passed from an unscreened area to a screened area of the airport in Melbourne,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
“As a precaution, all Qantas operations have been put on hold and passengers in the terminal are being re-screened, which is causing delays to some services this morning.
“Safety is our number one priority, but we know this disruption is causing some inconvenience for our passengers, and we apologise for that. We are investigating how this incident occurred.”
In a post on Twitter at about 7.30 a.m., Melbourne Airport officials said screening of passengers in T1 had resumed, although delays were expected.
In Adelaide, passengers were also subjected to travel delays after a similar incident.
In a Facebook statement, Adelaide Airport said it was investigating its breach, likely caused by technical issues.
“Adelaide Airport is currently investigating a security breach at Adelaide Airport that occurred this morning (October 11, 2022) shortly after 9 a.m.,” a statement read.
“The breach is believed to be linked to the failure of a piece of security equipment. An orderly evacuation of the terminal has been undertaken, and re-screening of passengers has commenced.
“There are likely to be some flight delays as a result, and passengers are asked to check with their carrier for up-to-the-minute flight information.”
In September, confusion reigned after a passenger inadvertently passed from an unscreened area to a screened one in Sydney ahead of a Melbourne-bound flight.
A plane-load of people were escorted straight to the baggage terminal on arrival to avoid compromising the security of Melbourne Airport upon landing.
