Did aliens land at London City Airport overnight? That’s at least what some passengers are speculating after seeing the funny side of being delayed today.

The airport had to close this morning for runway repairs to be carried out, disrupting dozens of flights and throwing travel plans for thousands of passengers into chaos.

Travellers have described a “complete nightmare” at the Docklands airport, where flights have now resumed but subject to delays and cancellations.

The airport should have opened at around 6am but an early-morning inspection of the runway found surface problems and no flights were possible in or out.

An LCY spokesman denied suggestions there was a hole in the runway and apologised to passengers for the inconvenience.

Keith Gill tweeted: "London City. It's a complete nightmare. No communication/updates."

Andy Richardson wrote: "Chaos at London City this morning causing us problems flying in from Scotland."

Others tried to see some humour in the situation, with Brid Cannon tweeting: "So, nocturnal alien landings leave their mark on runway at London City. Repair crews cleaning up after the 'visit'."

An LCY spokesman said: "The runway is inspected each evening before we close around 10.30pm and it's inspected again before we open around 6am.

"Today's early inspection found there was a need for maintenance. There is not a hole in the runway but there is a surface problem. There are inconsistencies on the surface of the runway."

Passengers were being advised to check with their airline before leaving for LCY.