A dozen outbound flights and an undetermined number of arrivals at Winnipeg's airport were affected Sunday by what officials are calling a security incident related to baggage.All flights at James Richardson International were placed on hold between 4:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. while airport security staff investigated.

During the alert, the airport remained open but inbound and outbound flights stayed on the tarmac.

Inbound planes were told they could not taxi to the gate and arriving passengers were not allowed to leave their aircraft.

Michael Badejo, a spokesman for the Winnipeg Airports Authority, says baggage was re-scanned as a precautionary measure.

He says no more information is being released regarding details of the alert, or what security officials were investigating.

Badejo said the RCMP at the airport “were aware of the situation,” which is normal procedure for any security-related issue at the facility, but they were not directly involved.

“As far as the investigation into the incident goes, we've worked through it,” he said.

“From the perspective of the public, we're going to use our findings to improve travellers' experiences with our airport as well as enhance our internal processes.”

It was the second emergency over the weekend at the Winnipeg airport. An Air China flight bound from Washington D.C. to Bejing was forced by engine trouble to make an emergency landing in Winnipeg Saturday night.

The nearly 300 passengers who ended up staying overnight in local hotels had just cleared check-in for their outbound flight on Sunday when the alert was issued.

Badejo said those passengers were delayed by the alert but were able to depart Winnipeg and resume their journey by about 9 p.m. Sunday.