A federal police spokesman earlier said officers, acting on a threat of an attack sent via email, searched a plane with 198 passengers from Tehran that had landed in the northern German city.

The German air force said on their X social media account that they escorted the plane after it entered German airspace east of Berlin due to a bomb threat.

Police interviewed passengers, which is normal procedure when a threat is classified as serious, the police spokesman told Reuters.

No take-offs or landings were possible because the airport fire brigade was involved with the search, the spokesman added.

The news came on the first day of a special meeting of the German and French governments in Hamburg, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron both attending.