An international airport had to shut down temporarily after drones were sighted in the area, causing significant disruption on Monday evening. Reports indicated that up to three autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were identified 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 vicinity.
The airport ceased all take-offs and landings at approximately 8:26 pm local time (7:26 pm UK time), as confirmed by Naviair, the air traffic control provider for the airport. FlightRadar’s post on Twitter revealed that by 10:05 pm local time (8:05 pm UTC), over 35 flights destined for the airport had been redirected to alternative airports due to the drone activity.
A subsequent update mentioned that a flight from Copenhagen to Paris had to return to the airport for further investigation into the reported drone sightings, with the airfield remaining closed until 2300 UTC. Local police also confirmed the closure of the airport for flight operations due to the presence of 2-3 large drones in the area, with no definite timeline provided.
A spokesperson for Copenhagen Airport verified that the airspace above the airport was closed due to unidentified drone activity, emphasizing ongoing police investigations and the uncertainty regarding when normal operations could resume. Most redirected flights were rerouted to Malmö, Billund, Aarhus, and Gothenburg, while details on the origin of the drones remained undisclosed.
Expressing frustration, a passenger named Mikael Belstrup shared his experience of being on a plane at the closed airport, highlighting the lack of information from staff and the uncertainty of their situation. In a separate incident, additional drone sightings were reported in Oslo, Norway, where two individuals were apprehended for flying drones over the Akershus Fortress.
Copenhagen Airport, the largest airport in the Nordic region, accommodated around 30 million passengers last year and marked its centennial celebration in April. Notably, the recent drone incident occurred following a near-collision between a passenger jet departing from London’s Heathrow Airport and a drone in May, which raised concerns about aviation safety.
In another alarming incident earlier in the year, a drone narrowly avoided colliding with a Boeing 737 airliner approaching Gatwick Airport. Investigators attributed the close call to providence, underscoring the potential risks posed by unauthorized drone activities near airports.