ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Airline passengers today spoke of their fury at being held up for hours as engineers carried out emergency work to City Airport's runway.

Early reports suggested the delays and cancellations had been caused by a "hole" opening up on the tarmac. City Airport later said the maintenance work related to a "surface irregularity that needed to be flattened out".

No flights departed or arrived at the east London hub for nearly the entire morning. Operations were returning to normal shortly after 11am, a spokesman said.

Amid scenes of queues and display screens filled with cancellations, passengers told of their anger at being delayed, with some reporting having been held on board their planes for up to two hours.

One 23-year-old passenger making his way to Edinburgh told the Standard: "Lots of people [are] stuck in departures.

"[We've been told the cause is] a 'small defect' in the runway which they noticed when the first flight was taking off."

Tunde Yinusa, an estate agent from Woolwich, has been waiting at the airport for his sister since 7am. He is flying in from Nigeria via Amsterdam but her flight to City airport was diverted to Stansted.

He said: "The delays have disturbed my day. I've got other things to do. I did not know about the diversion until two hours ago.

"We were told that it was a small defect on the runway but I think for a two or three hour delay it must be a big one."

One passenger, who did not want to be named, said: "I am trying to get to Billund in Denmark for a business meeting - I'm a salesman for a mobile games company.

"They just said there has been a hole in the runway. I only found out when I got here. It is a pain in the neck.

"They obviously do not have a contingency plan for this situation. It is the shock and awe on the faces of the airport staff."

Jens Egelund, a global marketing manager, is trying to get to Billund in Denmark after travelling to London for business.

He said: "I suppose it has to be safety first but it is quite frustrating. I have a meeting in Billund which I am supposed to be at for 2pm but I may miss it."

Other travellers took to Twitter to vent their frustration.

So, it turns out, London City Airport is closed because there is a hole in the runway ... no, I'm not kidding #longdayahead — Sean M Tuffy (@SMTuffy) May 19, 2015

Stuck at Amsterdam Airport for couple of hours 'cos of (wait for it) a hole in the runway at London City Airport! — Steve Clare (@SteveC1XY) May 19, 2015

Hole in runway at City Airport delaying all flights. Should just pop a cone up & let it slowly fill with crisp wrappers & cans #BritishWays — Damian Smyth (@smythmr) May 19, 2015

In a series of statements posted online, a spokesman for the airport said: "Due to emergency runway maintenance we're experiencing delays. Contact airline for flight updates, we apologise for inconvenience caused.

"Our team is working to get this fixed asap, we apologise for inconvenience"

Passengers were advised to check with their individual airline before departing for the airport.

A spokesman said the runway was reopened at 11.45am but there would continue to be delays to some flights this afternoon.

He said: "The maintenance has been completed. There will be some delays and quite clearly people travelling out of London should contact their airline [before travelling].

"The problem was a surface irregularity that needed to be smoothed out."

He added the issue was spotted around 6am this morning during routine checks.