Anonymous caller behind fake bomb alert at Geneva airport

Security was tightened around Geneva Airport.

The woman, from Annecy in France, called Swiss customs to say someone was carrying a bomb in the French sector of the airport.

The Swiss public prosecutor said Wednesday that an anonymous tip which had prompted heightened security checks at Geneva’s global airport had been sent by a woman who wanted to prevent her husband from flying.

It said that when the police raided the home, they found “a woman who admitted to placing the call and who explained that she had wanted to prevent her husband’s departure”.

Criminal proceedings against the woman have now been opened by both the Swiss and French authorities.

Air travelers were asked to come to the check-in two hours earlier after police boosted presence at the airport over security concerns.

The incident caused long tailbacks at the airport as vehicles were stopped on approach roads so that police could check people’s papers. Passengers were channeled through a few doors where heavily armed police again checked identity documents.

Preventive security measures are underway around the airport, the police said on their Facebook page, and will continue for an indefinite period.

Despite being on high alert, airport officials said the terminal remained open and was functioning normally.

France has been in a state of emergency since a number of terror attacks in Paris, Nice and, most recently, in northern France yesterday when a priest was killed during a Catholic church service.