Travel chaos expected on Monday at London City Airport

Travel chaos expected on Monday at London City Airport



Navy divers are working to defuse a Second World War bomb which forced the closure of London City Airport and the evacuation of hundreds of homes.



The airport, in east London, has been shut all day, plunging 16,000 people into travel chaos as they are left unable to catch their flights.



Around 300 flights, in and out, were cancelled and the airport is not expected to reopen until Tuesday morning.



The 1,100lb bomb is ten times more powerful than those used by the London 7/7 attackers, according to a Royal Navy bomb expert.



Roads surrounding the airport have been closed and a 700-ft exclusion zone has been put in place, after the device was found at 5am on Sunday.



Up to 500 people have been evacuated from the surrounding area of Newham, but dozens of families have refused to leave their homes.





Andrew Scott, from City of London Airport said: 'We have been told by the Navy that it is somewhere in the region of a 1,100lb bomb, a significant size.



'The object was identified in the morning and over the course of the day the Royal Navy decided with the Metropolitan Police to establish a cordon.



'We are hoping it will be removed by tomorrow.'



Police said they were working with the Royal Navy to remove the device, which was discovered during work at George V Dock, yards from the end of the runway.



The 500 kilo bomb that has closed City airport will be dragged for nine hours underwater before it is detonated in a controlled explosion.



In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'The device has been examined by Met Police and Royal Navy dive teams and is confirmed as being a 1,100lb tapered-end shell, measuring approximately 5-ft.



'It is lying in a bed of dense silt and the first stage of the removal operation is to free the shell from the silt so that it can be floated for removal.



'The operation to remove the ordnance is ongoing in partnership with our colleagues in the Royal Navy.







Robert Sinclair, CEO of London City Airport, confirmed it would remain closed for the rest of Monday. 



During the Blitz some 30,000 tonnes of explosive were dropped across London, usually set to go off immediately, on a timer or booby trapped.



Unexploded devices are known among experts as 'blind' and teams will dig around the shell before attaching a strap and relocating it to a safer area.



The water will absorb much of the force, but if the bomb went off in King George V dock it could still cause a significant amount of spray, noise and potentially damage to nearby homes by smashing windows. 



Later this afternoon and this evening Royal Navy experts are planning on removing the shell out to the Thames Estuary before disposing of it.



It is hoped that evacuated residents will be able to go back home this evening and City Airport will reopen as usual on Tuesday. 



Newham Council have confirmed that 'Officers are assisting with a controlled evacuation of up to 500 people.'



Streets in the exclusion zone include, Holt Road, Leonard Street, Lord Street, Newland Street, Tate Road, Muir Street and Kennard Street.



A spokesman added that a former town hall building had been opened up for evacuees.



'Work will not start on lifting and removing the device until the initial 700-ft zone is clear', he said.



'When work starts to remove it, it is expected the exclusion zone will be extended to 820-ft and more properties will need to be evacuated.'



Carriers using London City include British Airways, Lufthansa Flybe, CityJet and KLM.



Four-and-a-half million passengers used London City last year and around 50 routes are now served.



Due to its central Location, the airport is popular with business-people heading to destinations around Europe.



BA said it was doing 'everything possible to minimise disruption for our customers', but added the closure of the airport was 'beyond our control'.



While CityJet tweeted: 'Please note our flights are not cancelled. These have been rescheduled to and from Southend for any updates please see our website.'



Flybe said customers could rebook any 'disrupted flights' via their website.



Adding: 'If you have an onward connection please check the information for all separate flights individually.'



Lufthansa confirmed that its four flights scheduled for today were cancelled, with passengers automatically booked onto flights out of London Heathrow.



A spokesman added: 'We regret the inconvenience caused to the affected passengers, safety has the highest priority at Lufthansa.'