{"id":684507,"date":"2026-05-21T05:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T05:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/684507\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T05:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T05:11:14","slug":"avalon-airport-bomb-scare-traffic-chaos-after-suspicious-item-turns-out-to-be-laser-hair-removal-device","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/684507\/","title":{"rendered":"Avalon Airport bomb scare: Traffic chaos after \u2018suspicious item\u2019 turns out to be laser hair removal device"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated May 21, 2026 \u2014 11:30am,first published May 21, 2026 \u2014 8:45am<\/p>\n

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A bomb scare plunged Avalon Airport into lockdown for several hours and forced flight cancellations on Thursday morning after a suspicious package was flagged by security.<\/p>\n

The package was later confirmed to be a laser hair removal device and a cylindrical cardboard hot chocolate container.<\/p>\n

\"TravellersTravellers wait outside Avalon Airport after it was evacuated over a bomb threat. Justin McManus <\/p>\n

The police bomb squad were called to the regional airport at about 6am after security screening detected the item, forcing the airport to close its domestic terminal. A Melbourne man was initially detained, an airport spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Victoria Police Inspector Nick Uebergang said the package was deemed suspicious after it was X-rayed by airport security, who then inspected it further and \u201cdetermined it not to be quite right\u201d based on the way it was packed. The Victoria Police bomb response unit sent in a specialist robot, which confirmed it was non-suspicious.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fair to say, too, that the person who had the bag probably wasn\u2019t too co-operative with us to start off with, too, which made things a little bit difficult,\u201d Uebergang said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably could have averted things, and we could have got out of here a lot quicker. Just he wasn\u2019t giving us too much information at all on what was in his bag.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PassengersPassengers wait in the carpark after Avalon Airport went into lockdown.Justin McManus <\/p>\n

The man was detained but released after it became clear there was no bomb threat.<\/p>\n

Two flights to Sydney were cancelled, and a flight to Brisbane was delayed. The domestic terminal has since reopened, and the international terminal was not affected.<\/p>\n

An airport spokesperson said:\u201cThe response demonstrated the vigilance of the screening and security processes, with precautionary measures taken immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uebergang said Avalon had gone above and beyond with its security, and that he believed passengers affected by the cancellations and delays appreciated thorough security measures.<\/p>\n

\"AA stranded passenger waits outside the airport.Justin McManus<\/p>\n

The airport spokesperson said the international terminal remained open. Passengers travelling from Bali touched down at Avalon at 6.55 am, and an outbound Jetstar flight to Bali is scheduled for this evening.<\/p>\n

Two flights to Sydney were cancelled, Jetstar confirmed, while a morning flight to Brisbane has been delayed.<\/p>\n

Manjeet Singh arrived at the airport about 7am to catch a flight to Brisbane for a business trip, but was directed by security to wait in the car park.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince seven, we\u2019ve been in this car park … there\u2019s no arrangements, no bathroom, no toilet, no beverages, no nothing,\u201d he said, adding that his flight had been delayed further. If there\u2019s an incident, that needs to be dealt with \u2013 but [at the] same time, they need to take care of people who are stranded here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA family entertaining themselves during the lockdown.Justin McManus<\/p>\n

Singh said travellers had only been told it was a \u201csecurity incident\u201d by airport staff and that he\u2019d received no communication from his airline.<\/p>\n

When Vivian Grills arrived at Avalon airport about 7.30am, there was already a large queue of cars stretching back from the terminal. She was told there was a security breach and that she needed to park and wait in a nearby \u201cpaddock\u201d.<\/p>\n

Grills wasn\u2019t overly worried about the bomb scare. \u201cThey\u2019re doing their job,\u201d she said. But the Brisbane-bound traveller felt the airport and airlines had not given passengers enough communication or support.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bomb squad preparing to enter Avalon Airport, where a man was detained after a suspicious package was found in his luggage.Nine News<\/p>\n

The airline texted passengers to confirm the airport was closed due to a security incident and that their flights had been delayed.<\/p>\n

The security incident comes one day after a court heard details about an armed teenager\u2019s alleged attempt to hijack a plane<\/a> at Avalon Airport in March 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It is alleged that a then-17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wore a high-vis vest and attempted to carry a gun onto a Jetstar flight to Sydney, before being stopped by a passenger.<\/p>\n

The court heard he had allegedly started falling out with friends, made new friends who had \u201cshown him the way\u201d, and found his life\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n

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\"AngusAngus Delaney<\/a> is a reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email<\/a>.\"ChrisChris Zappone<\/a> is a senior reporter covering aviation and business. He is former digital foreign editor.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated May 21, 2026 \u2014 11:30am,first published May 21, 2026 \u2014 8:45am Save You have reached your maximum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-684507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}