Stansted Airport has reopened after a military bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious package was found in the security area.
Passengers travelling from Stansted Airport were initially only partially evacuated from Terminal 1 at around 1pm this afternoon.
Not long after, all passengers and staff were asked to move out of the building entirely and were left waiting on the street at the front of the airport for over four hours.
The security area reopened around 5pm and passengers were allowed back into the terminal but one passenger told MailOnline they were faced with 'utter chaos' as people 'jumped queues' to rebook their missed flights.
Essex Police, who were called in to manage the bomb scare response, said that 'nothing of concern' was found in the bag and a man has been arrested in connection with the incident.
In a statement before 5pm they said: 'Military explosive experts have carried out a controlled explosion on the package, which has now been forensically recovered by police investigators. Initial assessments would indicate there was nothing of concern within the bag.
'A man has been arrested in connection with this matter and remains in custody whilst investigations continue.'
One passenger told MailOnline a staff member believed it was a 'serious incident'.
Ricardo Cardoso tweeted from Stansted: 'A Ryanair representative, also stranded outside of the terminal, told me that the flights will departure at the schedule time and we will get a new spot, free of charge, on the next available flight, possibly today or tomorrow.'
As passengers stood and waited for news, the siren for evacuation was still heard blaring through the terminal.
Stansted has 50 departures scheduled between now and midnight - and they are continuing to fly, but with half-empty planes. Passenger Thibault Laurentjoye was at Stansted with his wife and young son and has been waiting outside the Airport since the evacuation at 1pm.
He told MailOnline: 'Only staff are going back inside now.
'We are going to leave I think, it is cold now and my son is exhausted.
'My understanding is that a lot of flights have left more or less on time and empty.'
Upon checking the flight status of his journey from London to Aalborg in Denmark, it says the plane departed on time but features no gate as it hadn't been allocated at the time of evacuation.
Another passenger, Dr David de Lorenzo, said he successfully boarded the plane although it is almost empty.
Flight information on the screens had not updated and many missed their flights after being told to leave. An update from Stansted Airport at 17.15pm said: 'Essex police have lifted the cordon and the security area has been reopened.
'As a result of our security processing area being temporarily closed, some passengers due to travel on remaining outbound flights may be impacted. Arriving flights continue to operate as normal.
'Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline. We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.'
Airport officials previously confirmed that Essex Police were managing the response and promised to provide an update on the situation soon.