Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport reopens after suspicious package found at terminal

Flights have once again resumed at Toronto’s island airport after being closed for most of Saturday afternoon and evening following a suspicious package investigation.

Officers were called to the ferry terminal on the mainland just before 4 p.m. at Bathurst Street and Queen Quay West by airport authorities. Billy Bishop airport said the device was found on a bike parked near the island-side ferry terminal.

Those stranded inside the airport terminal described a confused but relatively calm scene where staff offered sparse updates and passengers learned about the situation from news reports.

They reported seeing six heavily-armed police officers in tactical gear enter the terminal and head toward an upper floor, away from crowds gathered near the exits.

Matthew Zadow, a Canadian opera singer based in Belgium, used his baritone to help carry those updates to his fellow stranded passengers.

“The staff has said repeatedly they don’t know anything. They have no information from anyone,” he said in a phone interview from the airport about three hours after his flight arrived.

“It’s all kind of been a telephone game where people at the front hear something, and they pass it back along the line.”

Krista Hiddema said she was on the first flight to land after the airport shut the tunnel to the mainland and prevented people from leaving.

She learned about what was going on outside the airport in a call from her husband, not from the staff.

“It’s an exceedingly painful lack of organization. It’s remarkable to me that there is no designated communications person that is walking around sharing information.”

Hiddema said spirits remained high among the passengers, who mingled, shared travel stories and commiserated over snacks and drinks from an airport convenience stand.

Among the other passengers, Hiddema said she met in line was actor Jean Yoon, star of the CBC sitcom “Kim’s Convenience.”

“I quite enjoyed myself. After the three-hour mark (though people) were tired and frustrated (with) no clear plan, apparent disorganization,” Yoon said in a series of tweets recounting her experience.

The area was evacuated, including passengers waiting in airport lounges and the ferry terminal, and all operations at the airport were shut down, including flights in and out of the airport. Some nearby buildings were evacuated, and residents were also asked to avoid the area.

“We ended up pulling the fire alarms in all the nearby buildings to get people to leave,” Const. Laura Brabant said in an emailed statement.

The Emergency Disposal Unit conducted a controlled explosion shortly before 11 p.m. Investigators have not revealed what the item was.

Two people were taken into custody by police but later released without any charges being laid.

“Police are confident this was an isolated incident, and there is no further risk to public safety,” police said in a statement on Sunday morning.

Flights resumed at 6:45 a.m. Sunday and airport officials warned passengers travelling today may be impacted by yesterday’s security situation.

An emergency training exercise took place earlier in the day at the airport but had ended prior to the discovery of the suspicious package.

With files from The Canadian Press