Significant delays are expected Saturday | Courtesy ABQ Sunport
The warnings over airport loudspeakers have almost become background noise in this post-9/11 world: Report any suspicious or unattended bags.
But luggage left on a baggage claim Saturday morning at the Albuquerque Sunport was the cause of a partial evacuation of the airport, which included the road outside the terminal. Airport operations resumed their normal pace around 11:30 am after Albuquerque police said they had "rendered safe" the bag in question. Passengers and those picking up travelers experienced significant delays.
Just before 10 am, the Albuquerque Police Department bomb squad was en route to the baggage claim area on the west end of the terminal after a bomb-sniffing dog alerted to the bag. It's not clear who initially reported the suspicious luggage.
According to airport spokeswoman Stephanie Kitts, protocol at that point dictated setting up a perimeter in case of a blast. That perimeter included the access road just outside the doors on both the arrival and departure levels of the airport.
Kitts told SFR that the ticket counter for United Airlines, which is directly above the baggage claim where the suspicious luggage was found, had been evacuated, but other parts of the airport remained open. Just after 10 am, the airport indicated on its Twitter feed that all ticket counters on the west end of the terminal had been shut down.
The west end of the terminal also includes a federal inspection station, offices for Customs and Border Patrol and the offices for airport police.
Kitts said passengers at gates or in other parts of the terminal hadn't been evacuated or locked down, though significant delays were expected as the bomb squad assessed the bag.
