UPDATE: 07/11/2025
Over the past few months, several leading European airports have seen their operations affected by drones. “Professional actors” are believed to be behind the incursions, with the West blaming Russia as tensions rise over the war in Syria. Ukraine.
Disruptions can last for hours, causing serious flight delays and cancellations, costing airports and airlines millions of pounds.
Ourania Georgoutsakou, director general of Airlines for Europe (A4E), said the proliferation of incidents should “accelerate” the implementation of protocols to minimize disruption in an “over-exploited and fragmented European airspace”.
List of airports affected by drones
- Brussels and Liège airports (Belgium, November 7, 2025) once again faced disruption overnight due to alleged drone sightings.
- Deurne Airport (Belgium, November 1, 2025), a possible drone sighting has been reported in the immediate vicinity of Deurne airport.
- Copenhagen Airport (Denmark, September 22, 2025) closed for nearly four hours due to drone sightings, causing diversions and cancellations.
- Oslo Airport (Norway, September 22, 2025) airspace was closed for approximately three hours after a drone sighting.
- Aalborg Airport (Denmark, September 24-25, 2025) temporarily closed after repeated observations of drones in airspace.
- Munich Airport (Germany, October 2, 2025,) Flight operations were suspended overnight due to multiple drone sightings, leading to canceled and diverted flights.
- Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (Spain, October 27, 2025) the sighting of a drone near the runway forced the airport to suspend operations for almost two hours.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a news conference: “There is no doubt that everything indicates that this is the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many places and practically at the same time. This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.”
“It’s an arms race against time because technology is constantly evolving. »
Belgian Defense Minister Théo Francken said this on Sunday.
“They (the drones) come to spy, see where the F-16s are, where the munitions are and other highly strategic information,” he said. declared to the Belgian channel RTBF.
Protection against drones is a topic that will be discussed at the International Airport Summit 2025 in Berlin. On November 20, we will discuss precisely this topic during the 'Securing the Skies: The Cutting-Edge Security Technology Every Airport Needs,” a panel discussion sponsored by DroneShield and OSL, where airports will share their experiences and how they are responding to this rapidly evolving threat.
