A phosphorus bomb from World War II that was discovered on a construction site at Frankfurt Airport was successfully defused, a police spokesman said on Friday.

The decades-old bomb was discovered during construction work around the new Terminal 3. Incendiary bombs containing white phosphorus were used on a large scale against Germany during World War II.

An exclusion zone was set up in a radius of around 1,000 metres around the site of the discovery. The A5 motorway that runs near the airport was temporarily closed due to the bomb disposal operation.

The airport advised passengers to leave enough time to reach the airport and to get to the check-in counter as early as possible. It said travellers should check their airline’s website for any changes.