Drone sightings disrupt Munich airport, halt flights and impact thousands

Germany’s Munich airport said early on Friday that drone sightings on Thursday evening had forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers.

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 10:18 p.m. (2018 GMT) on Thursday and later suspended them altogether due to several drone sightings, the airport added.

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said the airport would remain closed until 0259 GMT, or 4:59 a.m. local time, on Friday.

The first arriving flight on Friday is expected at 5:25 a.m., while the first departure is scheduled for 5:50 a.m., the airport’s website showed.

Munich was already placed on edge this week when its popular Oktoberfest was closed temporarily due to a bomb threat and the discovery of explosives in a residential building in the city’s north.

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.

European Union leaders backed plans on Wednesday to bolster the bloc’s defences against Russian drones.

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

Source: Reuters
--Agencies