Bomb scare at Rome's Ciampino airport

Rome's Ciampino airport was closed at 08:00 GMT today (November 21st) after a bomb scare, airport officials noted.

Officials took the decision to divert flights to Rome's larger Fiumincino airport (Leonardo Da Vinci airport) after the scare.

An anonymous phone call said that there was an explosive device on board a cargo plane, according to police officials.

The Associated Press quoted the company that owns the airport as saying that it was reopened after a search of a cargo plane found no explosives.

Ciampino was not evacuated during the scare and overall the airport was closed for around an hour.

Rome's smaller airport has seen an increase in traffic recently following the success and expansion of low fares flights.

Ciampino is the closest airport to Rome's city centre.

The scare follows reports yesterday of German officials uncovering an alleged terror plot at an airport in the country.