Munich Airport resumes flights after control tower fire alarm

Flight operations at Munich Airport resumed late Sunday after a fire alarm triggered by a defective component in the airport's control tower, a spokesman for the airport operator said.

"Flight operations are running normally again," the spokesman said. The control tower was staffed again, although the airport website said delays and restrictions could still occur.

The airport had earlier announced that operations had been temporarily suspended. "The [control] tower at Munich Airport was evacuated at 8:33 p.m. [1833 GMT] due to the smell of smoke. German Air Traffic Control (DFS) has suspended flight operations until further notice," read a notice on its website.

However, around two hours later, some flights were already taking off again.

A defect in a fan was later identified as the cause of the alarm and a component was replaced, according to the spokesman.

It was not yet clear how many flights had been affected in total, the spokesman said, adding that the airport was still trying to process as many delayed flights as possible during the night.

Departing aircraft were able to take off, while incoming aircraft could also head for Munich again.

Authorities shortened the night-flight ban by one and a half hours, allowing the airport to handle affected flights until 1:30 am on Monday.

The airport also aimed to bring as many as possible of the 35 aircraft that had been diverted back to Munich.

It was initially unclear whether the incident would still affect flight operations on Monday. Some flights were cancelled, but no exact figure was immediately available.