BRITAIN: Irish passengers departing from Gatwick Airport last night suffered major delays as a result of the terror alert in the north terminal.
Aer Lingus confirmed there were "major delays on all departures from Gatwick".
A spokeswoman said all flights would be delayed by "at least several hours".
Aer Lingus normally operates all flights out of the north terminal at Gatwick.
Since London Metropolitan Police closed the terminal after the discovery of a live grenade in luggage, all flights have been redirected to the south terminal. "The airfield is still open so we are transferring our flights to the south terminal," the spokeswoman told The Irish Times last night.
"Everyone who would normally be processed through the north terminal will have to be processed through the south terminal instead, so that may cause delays," she added.
One Aer Lingus flight affected was the 7 p.m. departing Gatwick for Dublin Airport.
An Aer Lingus station manager was on duty at Gatwick, but British security forces were in charge of directing the transfer of passengers to the south terminal.
Aer Lingus confirmed traffic was operating as normal from Heathrow and London City airports despite the heightened security.
"Passengers are being transported as normal but the situation is under review," said Aer Lingus.
Ryanair said there were no delays on their departures as their four daily return flights from Gatwick normally operated from the south terminal.
Aer Arann confirmed that its daily flight from Galway to London Luton was not directly affected by the alerts.