Munich airport begins slow reopening after late-night drone sightings
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Travellers sleeping in Munich Airport early on Oct 4 after both runways were closed.
PHOTO: AFP
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MUNICH - Munich airport said on Oct 4 it was gradually resuming flights from 7am local time, with delays expected through the day, hours after both runways were closed for the second time
The airport advised travellers to check with their airlines as it prepared for the restart, two hours later than originally scheduled, after the Oct 3 evening closure.
Dozens of flights had been diverted or cancelled, stranding some 6,500 passengers, the authorities said.
Airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland recently suspended flights due to unidentified drones, while Romania and Estonia have pointed the finger at Russia, which has brushed off the allegations.
The authorities have yet to attribute the Oct 2 or Oct 3 drone sightings to a specific actor.
“German air traffic control restricted flight operations at Munich airport as a precautionary measure due to unconfirmed drone sightings and suspended them until further notice,” a statement on the airport website read.
In a later update, the airport said 23 flights were diverted, and 12 flights to Munich and 48 departures cancelled or postponed.
A police spokesman told AFP that there were “two simultaneous confirmed drone sightings by police patrols just before 11pm around the north and south runways”.
“The drones immediately moved away before they could be identified,” he added.
“As on the previous night, the airport and airlines took care of the passengers,” the airport added in its statement. “Camp beds, blankets, drinks and snacks were handed out.”
The previous evening, the captain on a London-bound aircraft whose departure was cancelled told passengers that runways had been closed “because of drone sightings near the take-off and landing runways” and that police helicopters were aloft.
The airport website showed due arrivals had been diverted starting at 8.35pm local time.
The airport was closed for several hours late on Oct 2 and in the small hours after unconfirmed drone sightings that disrupted dozens of flights.
It began at 8.30pm local time when police say drones were spotted in areas close to the airport, including the towns of Freising and Erding.
Erding plays host to an airfield used by the German military. Bild newspaper said some of the drones were spotted flying over the facility, although police could not confirm this.
The first drones near the airport perimeter were seen at around 9.05pm on Oct 2, and then over the airport complex about an hour later.
The sightings ended around midnight, but not before causing the closure of both runways.
High alert
Earlier on Oct 3, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the first night’s incident was a “wake-up call” on the threat from drones.
“The race between the threat from drones and the defence against drones is becoming more and more difficult,” he told Bild, adding that “more financing and research” on the issue were urgently needed at the national and European levels.
The disruptions came as the country celebrated German Unity Day on Oct 3 – a national holiday – and as Munich geared up for the final weekend of Oktoberfest, which draws hundreds of thousands of people to the city every day.
The annual beer gala and funfair had already closed for half a day on Oct 1 after a bomb scare.
Mr Dobrindt promised to bring forward legislation making it easier for the police to ask the military to shoot drones down.
The drone sightings in Denmark and high-profile aerial incursions in Estonia and Poland have heightened fears that Russia’s assault on Ukraine could spill over Europe’s borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Europe on Oct 2 that the recent drone incursions showed Moscow was looking to “escalate” its aggression.
Germany is on high alert, saying a swarm of them had flown over the country last week, including over military and industrial sites.
Denmark also raised the alarm, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterating last week that only one country “poses a threat to Europe’s security – and that’s Russia”.
Moscow said it “firmly rejects” any suggestion of involvement, with Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing Europe of stoking “hysteria” to justify rising military spending. AFP, REUTERS
