An international airport had to shut down its operations following the sighting of drones in the vicinity, causing significant disruptions on Monday evening.
Reports indicated the presence of up to three autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the airspace above Copenhagen Airport in Denmark, prompting a swift response from law enforcement. Henrik Stormer, the head of the Copenhagen Police, informed the media about the extensive police presence in the area.
Copenhagen Airport ceased all take-offs and landings at approximately 8:26 pm local time (7:26 pm UK time) as confirmed by Naviair, the traffic control company overseeing operations at the airport. FlightRadar’s post on Twitter mentioned that by 10:05 pm local time (8:05 pm UTC), over 35 flights bound for the airport had to be diverted to alternate airports due to the drone incursion.
Subsequent updates revealed that a flight from Copenhagen to Paris had to return to the airport for further investigation due to reported drone sightings, with the airfield remaining closed until 11:00 pm UTC.
Local police posted on social media that the airport was currently not permitting take-offs or landings due to the presence of 2-3 large drones in the vicinity, with no definitive timeline provided.
A spokesperson for Copenhagen Airport confirmed the closure of the airspace due to unidentified drones, stating that authorities were conducting an investigation with no set timeline for resuming normal operations.
The majority of diverted flights were rerouted to Malmö, Billund, Aarhus, and Gothenburg, while no information has been released regarding the origin of the drones.
An affected passenger, Mikael Belstrup, expressed frustration over the lack of information provided by airport staff while waiting on a grounded plane for updates on the situation.
In a separate incident, drones were also sighted in Oslo, Norway, near the Akershus Fortress, resulting in the arrest of two individuals. However, the connection between the incidents in Copenhagen and Oslo remains unclear.
Copenhagen Airport, the largest in the Nordic region, served approximately 30 million passengers last year and celebrated its 100th anniversary in April, marking a significant milestone in its growth.
These events follow a recent incident in May when a passenger jet narrowly avoided a collision with a drone near London’s Heathrow Airport, raising concerns about drone safety and aviation security.
Another incident in January involved a drone coming perilously close to colliding with a Boeing 737 approaching Gatwick Airport, highlighting the ongoing challenges posed by unauthorized drone activity near airports.