CNN —Venice may be know as La Serenissima, but for those who have encountered her resident seagulls, the experience can be anything but serene. Now, the winged criminals have gone one stop further, causing an hour-long shutdown and two hours of chaos at the city’s airport. Venice Marco Polo Airport, located north of the city, with a runway adjacent to the lagoon, is the fifth busiest airport in Italy, and the largest in the north of the country outside the Milan area. Twenty incoming flights were diverted to other airports in northern Italy: Treviso, Verona, Trieste and Milan. Venice airport employs a resident falcon, who was dispatched by a falconer to disperse the 200-odd birds.

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Persons: we’ll, Stanley Tucci, Venice Marco, falconer, Marco Bertorello, LaGuardia, Chesley “ Sully ” Sullenberger Organizations: CNN, intel, Venice Marco Polo Airport, SAVE, Eastern Air Lines, Ethiopian Airlines, Addis Ababa, Ryanair, Boeing, Hudson Locations: Venice, Italy, Milan, Treviso, Verona, Trieste, AFP, Boston, Addis, Frankfurt, Rome, New, Charlotte, Canada, Hudson