‘Hostage situation’ that closed Hamburg airport ends with suspect arrested

A hostage situation at Hamburg airport has concluded with the suspect and his daughter exiting a car, police have said, ending an 18-hour ordeal that had closed northern Germany’s busiest airport.

The suspect was arrested without resistance and the child appeared not to be injured, the police said on the social media platform X.

The incident began at about 8pm local time on Saturday when an armed man drove through a security barrier and on to the tarmac, fired two shots in the air and threw two burning bottles out of the vehicle.

At least two individuals – including a child – were in the car, police said. The wife of the driver had placed an emergency call alerting police to the abduction of her child, the police spokesperson added.

Police said on Saturday that they believed “that a custody dispute is the background to this operation”.

A police spokesperson told German media on Sunday morning: “We have good contact with the perpetrator.” The police said they were positive about the fact that the discussions were continuing for so long, saying: “That’s an absolutely good sign.”

Local media reported that a total of 3,200 airline passengers were affected by delays due to the incident.

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