Person at Munich airport detained after bypassing security

Police at Munich airport detained a person who left a terminal via an emergency exit instead of going through passport control, prompting a partial shutdown of one of Germany's busiest airports Tuesday.

Up to 5,000 passengers were affected by the disruption as federal police searched for the unnamed person, Munich Airport spokesman Robert Wilhelm said.

Several flights were delayed and the affected passengers, who had already been through security checks for their departing flights, had to go through the process again, Wilhelm said.

Terminal 1 and parts of Terminal 2 were closed during the police operation.

Munich airport is one of Germany's busiest aviation hubs and the shutdown came during peak summer travel season.

Wilhelm said the passenger arrived on a flight from outside the European Union and was due to transfer at Munich airport.

Before boarding the connecting flight the passenger had to go through security controls, but instead he unlocked an emergency door and left through it despite setting off an alarm.

It was not immediately clear from which country the person had arrived.

Last summer, some 330 flights were cancelled in Munich when a woman entered a "clean area" of the airport without going through security checks, German news agency dpa reported.