A hoax call about migrants having entered the airport perimeter this morning may have been an attempt to hinder the deportation of a group of 35 migrants to Ghana, officials suspect.

The call was made to the control tower at about 10 a.m., shortly before the Air Malta plane carrying the migrants was due to leave for Accra.

The call forced a brief closure of the airport while airport officials and soldiers conducted a search, but found nothing.

A Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt was diverted to Palermo as a consequence of the airport closure.

The Air Malta flight eventually departed, with the migrants escorted by 70 policemen and accompanied by a doctor and a nurse.

All 25 Ghanian migrants had their request for asylum considered inadmissible by the Refugees Commissioner and their appeals were dismissed since Ghana is considered a safe country. Most of these migrants arrived in 2011 and had been held in detention.

The deportation was carried out after the authorities in Ghana provided the necessary travel documents. 80 per cent of the repatriation costs were met by the EU.

Meanwhile, 25 migrants of various nationalities left for the United States under a US government programme.

Both operations were coordinated by the Ministry of Home Affairs.