Ryanair calls for shooting down drones threatening Europe's airports

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has criticized EU leaders for failing to protect strategic infrastructure from drone attacks, saying unmanned aircraft disrupting airports should be “immediately shot down.”

"Why aren’t we shooting these drones down? If a Russian military aircraft overflies NATO airspace, it’s intercepted, so why not drones?" he said in an interview.

According to O’Leary, drone activity grounded airports in Poland for four hours three weeks ago, while similar incidents hit Denmark last week. "It’s disruptive, and we’re calling for action," he added.

Doubts on 'drone wall'

The Ryanair chief also questioned the effectiveness of the so-called "drone wall" initiative.

"I don’t think a drone wall has any effect whatsoever. Do you think the Russians can’t actually launch a drone from inside Poland?" O’Leary said.

O’Leary sharply criticized European leaders:

"I have no faith in European leaders sitting around drinking tea and eating biscuits,” he said.“If you can’t even protect overflights over France, what chance do we have of them protecting us against Russia?"

Airspace violations across Europe

Recent weeks have seen a rise in Russian provocations near NATO airspace, including drone incursions and military aircraft crossings.

• On September 9, Russian drones entered Polish territory.

• On September 19, three MiG-31 fighters crossed into Estonian airspace, remaining there for over 12 minutes — the most serious incident in two decades.

• Days later, unidentified drones forced the temporary closure of Denmark’s main airport and were also spotted over Oslo and Sweden’s Karlskrona archipelago.

Meanwhile, Russia’s embassy in Copenhagen dismissed the incidents as "staged provocations", denying Moscow’s involvement.