Extra unidentified drones have been noticed in Europe on Thursday evening, disrupting flight companies at Germany’s second largest airport, in Munich. Belgian protection officers are additionally investigating sightings of a number of drones over a army base within the east of the nation in a single day.
Munich airport reopened Friday morning after the drone sightings prompted officers to briefly shut the power and droop 17 flights in a single day.
Police and fireplace division personnel are seen after drone sightings and flight cancellations at Munich Airport in Germany, Oct. 3, 2025.
Jason Tschepljakow/image alliance/Getty
Munich airport stated Friday that the flight disruptions had impacted almost 3,000 passengers, however that these affected had been rebooked on new flights or had their flights rescheduled.
“When a drone is sighted, the safety of travelers is the top priority,” the airport stated in an announcement, noting that “reporting chains between air traffic control, the airport, and police authorities have been established for years.”
The airport stated flights have been suspended at 10:18 p.m. native time Thursday (4:18 pm ET) following the drone sightings.
On Thursday, native media shops in Belgium reported that unidentified drones had been noticed over the German metropolis of Düren, about 20 miles from the German-Belgian border, at about 1:45 a.m. native time after flying over the Elsenborn army base in japanese Belgium, which can be near the border.
Authorities haven’t recognized the place the drones got here from, nevertheless it was the most recent in a sequence of comparable unexplained drone sightings close to airports and army installations in Western Europe over the previous month. However there’s widespread suspicion in European capitals that Russia is behind these drone flights, and that it’s in search of to probe NATO’s safety posture.
After repeated incursions into Danish airspace, together with round army bases and airports in current weeks, European leaders met in Copenhagen earlier this week to debate boosting European air defenses. The summit additionally got here after Russian army plane violated NATO airspace in Poland, Romania and Estonia in current weeks, and amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We meet at a time when Russia has intensified their attacks in Ukraine, where we have seen Russian airspace violations and unwanted drone activity in several European countries,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen instructed reporters after the summit on Wednesday.
“From a European perspective there is only one country… willing to threaten us, and that is Russia, and therefore we need a very strong answer back,” stated Frederiksen.
