Hamburg Airport Suspends Flights Over Threat to Iranian Plane

The authorities at the Hamburg Airport in Germany suspended all flights for roughly 90 minutes on Monday after receiving what they called “a credible threat” that mentioned a specific flight coming from Tehran.

The plane in question landed safely and was parked in an isolated section of the airport. All 198 passengers and 16 crew members left the plane without incident. The police then took the travelers to an isolated gate and subjected them to vigorous security screenings, similar to those carried out before takeoff, said Marcus Henschel, a spokesman for the federal police at the airport.

The threat “was determined to be credible and so we initiated the appropriate response,” Mr. Henschel said.

The threat against the plane came in an email sent to several recipients, including the federal police at the airport, early Monday morning, Mr. Henschel said in a phone interview.

The flight was a direct flight operated by Iran Air, the country’s national carrier.

Thanks to high-tech security screening measures, major threats to airplanes have become rare in Europe.

With around 11 million passengers a year, Hamburg’s airport is Germany’s fifth largest.

The police screened luggage and searched the plane thoroughly, but when by 2:15 p.m. local time they had found nothing, the airport was reopened to regular traffic.