Thousands of holidaymakers have been left stranded after flights at Birmingham airport were grounded on Wednesday when a small aircraft made an emergency landing.

Three people from the aircraft were treated at the scene, one of whom suffered minor injuries in the incident, which occurred at about 1.40pm, West Midlands police said.

At least 25 flights listed on the departures page of the airport’s website to destinations across Europe had been cancelled. Just before 8pm Birmingham Airport said its runway had reopened and flights had started to depart.

The hub apologised for the disruption caused by the incident and said passengers must check flight details and follow advice issued by their airlines. Some flights had to be diverted to Manchester and East Midlands airports.

Passengers have been told to check the status of their flight before coming to Birmingham airport, where check-in and security were also temporarily closed.

All of those onboard the Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, which was flying to Belfast, have been discharged.

Earlier, Birmingham airport posted on X: “Following an aircraft incident that occurred this afternoon, operations are expected to remain suspended until at least 8pm. Passengers at the airport are advised to speak to their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”

The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said disruption at the airport was “minimal” but she understood “how frustrating” the situation was for passengers.

Gunnar Lauridsen, 76, from Denmark had been on holiday playing golf, and said he would most likely miss his connecting flight because of the closed runway.

“We are ultimately going to Billund in Denmark,” he said. “This delay probably means we can’t get our connection, so that means that we will be staying probably in Amsterdam overnight.

“I should have been to the doctors tomorrow morning. When you travel things happen.”

Camile Monteleone, 30, was meant to fly home to Barcelona after working in the UK for three days but did not know if her flight from the airport had been cancelled.

The visual merchandiser said: “I don’t have any news … It doesn’t say anything on the Ryanair app about the flight. I’m just waiting for information. I have to let people know I’m here, stuck at the airport. I can’t do anything else.”

Faye Melhuish, 38, who arrived home from a holiday in Spain with her six-month-old daughter, said her flight had been unable to land at Birmingham and had to be diverted.

“We flew from Spain and we were due to land here at 2.20pm,” she said. “Then in the air we were circling to see if we could land. The captain basically said we are going to have to go to East Midlands.”

Speaking about her daughter, Melhuish said: “It’s her first time on a plane and her first time on a coach.”

West Midlands police had previously posted on X: “We are at Birmingham airport this afternoon after a small aircraft was involved in an emergency landing at around 1.40pm. Officers are among the emergency crews at the scene and one person has been reported to have minor injuries.

“The Civil Aviation Authority has been informed and the airport has suspended operations as an investigation is carried out.”

The response to the incident will be led by the Air Accidents Investigations Branch, a CAA spokesperson said. “In the event of delays or cancellations, passengers will be expected to be provided with food and drink as well as accommodation if delayed overnight,” they said.

The Air Accidents Investigations Branch said it had started an investigation into the incident, with “a multi-disciplinary team including inspectors with expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data” deployed to the airport.

Woodgate Aviation said one of its Beechcraft aircraft was involved in the emergency landing as a result of landing gear problems.