Munich airport forced to close after drone sightings

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Munich’s airport was forced to shut for several hours after drone sightings, in the latest incident showing the vulnerability of European airspace.

German air traffic controllers restricted operations before completely closing the airport, the country’s second busiest, after several drone sightings late on Thursday, authorities said.

The disruption meant 17 flights were unable to take off, affecting 3,000 passengers, while 15 arriving flights were diverted to other airports in Germany and Austria, Munich airport said.

There were “multiple drone sightings in the course of the evening” on Thursday, said federal police spokesman Stefan Bayer, without giving any details about the type of drones. German authorities gave no immediate indication of who they believed was responsible for the disruption.

Munich airport said operations resumed as normal at 5am on Friday and that affected passengers were being rebooked or would have their flights rescheduled.

Bavaria’s premier Markus Söder called for police to be given the power to shoot down drones “immediately”. “We need effective protection for our entire infrastructure and military facilities,” he told newspaper Bild.

The incident follows a spate of cases in Denmark in which unidentified drones entered the country’s airspace and forced the closure of airports, in what Danish officials described as a “systematic” attack.

The sighting of several drones above the airport in Copenhagen early last week halted operations for several hours. The incident was followed a few days later by drone sightings at four regional Danish airports, including two used by the military.

Copenhagen has not established who was behind its drone sightings, but Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said Europe’s “primary enemy” is Russia. She has warned that Moscow was attempting to “destabilise Europe” after a series of airspace violations along Nato’s eastern front.

France has detained the captain of an oil tanker that was sailing close to Denmark during last week’s incursions and which it says belongs to Moscow’s shadow fleet, which is being used to avoid western restrictions on the Russian energy sector since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

German authorities also last week reported sightings of drones over the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark.

The temporary closure of Munich airport comes during a week of disruption for the city. Its annual Oktoberfest was closed for several hours on Wednesday after a bomb threat.