Munich airport closes twice in 24 hours after second suspected drone incident

Germany’s Munich airport was forced to shut down twice in less than 24 hours, after more suspected drone sightings occurred causing significant travel disruption.

The airport said that flights were suspended at 21:30 local time, with around 6,500 passengers affected, in a statement released on Friday evening.

It has been observed that 17 flights were also grounded in Munich on Thursday evening due to multiple drone sightings in airspace.

A series of drone incidents has caused aviation disruptions in Europe in recent weeks.

Authorities in Belgium have been investigating sightings of 15 drones which were seen above the Elsenborn military base near the German border as per media reports.

Meanwhile, several EU member states have backed plans for a multi-dimensional drone wall to quickly detect, track and then destroy Russian drones.

Twenty Russian drones crossed into Poland and Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace in the recent incidents.

Copenhagen and Oslo airports were forced to close after unidentified drones were spotted near military airspace.

Germany is on high alert, saying that a swarm had flown over the country last week and affected military and industry sites.

Following the serious incident, Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt will raise the matter of drone defense at a meeting of European interior ministers expected to be held today, Saturday.

Additionally, earlier on Friday, the minister stated his commitment to bringing forward the proposed legislation allowing the military to shoot drones down.