Fifty flights delayed after fire alarm set off at Singapore's Changi tower

A hoax fire alarm alert at Singapore's Changi Control Tower here, necessitating its evacuation led to a large-scale flight disruption here on Thursday with fifty departing ones getting delayed and nine arriving ones diverted.

The control tower was evacuated after a fire suppression system was activated, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

Flight operations at Changi Airport, which were disrupted just after midnight, were restored at 1.40 am after the control tower resumed operations, said Rosly Saad, director of air traffic services at CAAS.

"There was no fire," the Channel News Asia quoted Rosly as saying.

"In the interim, air traffic control services were provided from back-up positions," he added.

Investigations into the cause of the activation are ongoing.

During the disruption, 50 departure flights were delayed by 30 minutes or more and nine arriving flights were diverted.

Some passengers affected by the disruption said they were delayed for about two hours, according to media reports on Thursday.