London City Airport Reopens After WW2 Bomb Found

London City Airport will reopen on Tuesday after the discovery of an unexploded World War Two bomb forced its closure late on Sunday.

The bomb was found in the King George V Dock at North Woolwich, east London during construction work at the airport. British Royal Navy divers removed the German 500kg fused device during Monday.

The airport closed at 22:00 (10pm) on Sunday with Monday’s flights either cancelled or diverted to other area airports. Over 100 departures and 16,000 passengers were affected.

Police setup a 200 metre (700 foot) cordon round the bomb’s location and residents within the area were evacuated from their homes.

“The World War Two ordnance discovered in King George V Dock has been safely removed by the Royal Navy and Met Police,” the airport’s chief executive Robert Sinclair said. “As a result, the exclusion zone has now been lifted and the airport will be open as normal on Tuesday.”

Sinclair thanked the emergency services for their “professionalism and expertise in bringing this incident to a safe conclusion,” and local residents and affected passengers for their patience and understanding.

London City asked passengers who are booked to travel on Tuesday to not arrive more than two hours before their flight.

London City Airport is the nearest airport to central London and close to the Canary Wharf financial district. It is popular for business travel, but its 1,500 metre (4,900 ft) runway limits the range of flights that can be operated there.