Stansted Airport: Flights grounded due to runway damage

At least 27 flights were delayed at London Stansted Airport due to the discovery of runway damage.

The problem was found during an hourly routine surface inspection shortly after 09:00 BST.

Both departures and arrivals were suspended to allow "minor runway works to be safely carried out", the airport said. The runway reopened an hour later.

Passengers affected were mostly travelling with Ryanair.

An airport spokesman said that a "small area of the runway was cut out and refilled" because of a "crumbling" of the concrete surface.

London Stansted is the UK's fourth busiest airport and was used by 28 million passengers in 2018.