Drone sightings: Copenhagen airport closed for hours

The overflight of several large unknown drones led to the closure of airspace and flight cancellations at Copenhagen Airport on Monday evening. At the same time, there were also sightings at the airport in Oslo, Norway. The police and intelligence services of both countries are investigating. The incident has triggered a discussion about whether the defence and detection measures in the event of airspace violations are sufficient.

According to Danish Radio (DR), at least three large drones were spotted over and around Copenhagen Airport at around 8.30 pm on Monday evening. Air traffic control then closed the airspace. Flights were diverted or cancelled. The drones coming from different directions had been in the area for several hours and then disappeared again. The airport was only able to reopen at around 0.30 am.

Around 100 flights cancelled

According to an initial assessment in the morning, around 100 flights had to be cancelled. 31 aircraft were diverted, and a total of 20,000 passengers were affected. Apart from interfering with air traffic, the drones posed no further danger to people.

Investigators from the Danish police said at a press conference that it would have to be a “capable actor” to move drones of this size with the flight patterns observed and the duration of their stay in the area. There should be a further assessment of the situation on Tuesday morning. The Danish police are cooperating with security authorities in Poland and Norway. The Danish Ministry of Defence is also involved. The investigators are apparently still in the dark. It is conceivable that it was a training flight. A take-off from a ship in the Baltic Sea is also conceivable.

German aircraft also affected

Alongside Stockholm-Arlanda and Oslo-Gardermoen, Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport is one of the largest airports in Scandinavia. Flights to and from Germany were also affected by the closure on Monday evening.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the incident “the most serious attack on Denmark's critical infrastructure to date. This says something about the times we live in and what we need to be prepared for as a society.” She continued: “Of course, we are not ruling out any options regarding the people behind the attack. And it is clear that this fits with the development we have seen recently with other drone attacks, airspace violations, and hacker attacks on European airports.”

We will update this story as new information emerges.

(mki)