Heavily armed military police sealed off part of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport for hours after arresting a man for suspicious behaviour and summoning explosives experts to check his luggage.

Police in body armour and ski masks brandishing machine guns patrolled the airport for four hours while the investigation was under way.

The operation stranded scores of passengers who could not get to their parked cars because parts of the airport were sealed off.

Flights at the busy aviation hub appeared largely unaffected by the security scare and trains to the airport's station continued running throughout.

In the early hours of Wednesday, military police spokesman Alfred Ellwanger said that "no dangerous materials were found" in the arrested suspect's luggage and the tight security measures were lifted.

He said the man who was arrested remained in custody and under investigation.

The Netherlands has been on high alert since the deadly suicide bombing attacks on Brussels airport and subway last month in neighbouring Belgium.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.