Munich Airport halted flight operations late Thursday night due to “several drone sightings,” marking the latest incident of drone turbulence in the airspace of the European Union.
Air traffic inside and outside the airport began to resume at 5am CET on Friday, according to a spokesman for the German Federal Police.
According to an airport statement Thursday night, flights were laid at 10:18pm as flights 17 were unable to take off and nearly 3,000 passengers were affected. The 15 arrival flights were detoured to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Vienna.
“When a drone is spotted, traveller safety is a top priority,” the statement read, adding that camp beds are being served with blankets, drinks and snacks to affected passengers.
The incident is the latest in a series of drone sightings across Europe over the past week. Airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland have similarly suspended flights due to unidentified drone activities.
Airspace violations have also been reported in Estonia and Romania.
European authorities have indicated that European authorities could be behind Russia as a spokesman for the European Commission says “Russia is testing its European borders.”
Moscow has denied all allegations of involvement in recent drone sightings in Denmark. Nevertheless, Russian officials and allies Belarus have admitted that several drones that were used as part of Russia’s Ukrainian war had entered the territory of the EU and NATO member Poland.
The hardening position of many European leaders on drone invasions is a major part of the debate held at the European Summit in Copenhagen this week, with many broadly supporting proposals to enhance the development of drones and anti-drone technologies as part of the so-called drone walls.
