Perth Airport: Travellers warned to expect flight delays following Terminal 1 lockdown chaos

Delays are expected at Perth Airport after its international terminal was locked down over the discovery of an unattended item.

The travel plans of thousands of passengers were thrown into chaos on Wednesday afternoon as WA Police and Australian Federal Police officers locked down part of Terminal 1, the international wing of Perth Airport, at about 4pm.

An exclusion zone was established while the item in the forecourt was investigated.

The lockdown was lifted at about 6.30pm.

“The investigation has now concluded, and the impacted areas are beginning to reopen,” a Perth Airport spokesperson said.

“Perth Airport is working closely with airline partners and relevant agencies to return operations to normal as quickly as possible.”

Passengers are warned to expect delays with their evening flights and have been encouraged to check directly with their airline for the latest flight information.

Those returning from overseas faced long queues as they waited to clear customs and one told The West Australian they had been waiting close to two hours, after their flight from Bali had landed.

“The line was long but was moving,” they said.

“At perhaps 4pm the line stopped moving; zero announcements over the PA, zero communication from any staff until perhaps 4.50pm.

“Then about 5pm some staff member finally came and told us there was an AFP incident out front and they’re not letting us out until it’s cleared.”

Other travellers faced a race against time, anxious about missing connecting flights if planes in Perth had remained grounded.

“They’ve said that planes will not be taking off. They’re all grounded, so we should get our flight, but they might stuff up our connection flight in New Zealand,” one flyer told 7NEWS.

A Perth Airport spokesperson confirmed the eastern end of the forecourt was locked down.

Traffic outside was directed to use the Terminal 2 short-term car park, due to the exclusion zone making the regular area unusable.

Its unknown exactly how many flights were impacted or the length of the delays to expect.