Munich drone sightings force airport to cancel flights in latest Europe disruption

Drone sightings over Munich airport on Thursday evening forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers in the German city.

Another 15 arriving flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt, the airport said in a statement, marking the latest drone disruption to European aviation after sightings temporarily shut airports in Denmark and Norway last week.

German air traffic control officials restricted flight operations at Munich airport from late Thursday evening and later suspended them altogether due to several drone sightings, the airport added.

The city was already on edge this week after its popular Oktoberfest was closed temporarily due to a bomb threat and the discovery of explosives in a residential building in the north of the city.

Denmark has stopped short of saying who it believes is responsible for the incidents in its airspace last week, which disrupted air traffic at multiple airports, but Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has suggested it could be Russia.

Frederiksen said Europe was in its “most difficult and dangerous situation” since the end of the second world war, as she hosted European union leaders for talks on aiding Ukraine and firming up European defence projects intended to ensure the continent is ready to deter invaders by 2030.

At the meeting, leaders backed plans to bolster the bloc’s defences against Russian drones.

On Sunday a German air defence frigate, FSG Hamburg, arrived in Copenhagen to contribute to “strengthening Denmark’s airspace surveillance” during the summits, Danish armed forces said.

The frigate is part of Nato’s “Baltic Sentry” mission, which the alliance said this weekend it intended to strengthen. A Nato spokesperson said there would be “even more enhanced vigilance” in the Baltic Sea region, including Denmark.

Russian President Vladimir Putin joked on Thursday that he would not fly drones over Denmark any more, but Moscow has denied responsibility for the incidents.

With Reuters