Belgium's Liege Airport halts operations due to drone sighting
Liege Airport halts operations due to unidentified drone (photo: Getty Images)
At Liege Airport on Friday morning, air traffic was once again halted due to a drone spotted in a restricted area. Operations were suspended for nearly an hour, marking the third such incident in a week, according to RTBF.
Air traffic at Liege Airport was suspended on Friday morning after Skeyes air traffic controllers detected a drone in a restricted area near the airfield.
According to the control service, the restrictions began at 6:56 a.m. and remained in place until nearly 8:00 a.m.
Safety procedures require an immediate halt to flights as soon as a drone is detected in the airport area.
This time, it was spotted near FedEx facilities. It is the first daytime appearance of such a device after a series of nighttime flyovers above airports, military bases, and other sensitive locations.
The airport noted that the incident had a minimal impact, causing only a delay to one flight. However, this is not the first such disruption: on Tuesday and Thursday evening, flights to and from Liege were temporarily halted due to similar threats. On Thursday, air traffic was suspended several times between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., affecting four flights.
A drone was also detected over Brussels Airport on Thursday at around 9:20 p.m., briefly disrupting operations there as well.
Unknown drones over Belgium
On the night of November 1, unknown drones were spotted in Belgian airspace. They were flying over the Kleine-Brogel air base in the town of Peer, where US nuclear weapons are stored.
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken stated that the drones were spying on fighter jets and ammunition.
Chief of the Belgian Army General Staff Frederik Vansina ordered soldiers to shoot down suspicious drones, but only in a safe manner, meaning "without any collateral damage."
On the evening of November 4, unknown drones were again seen in Belgium near the Kleine-Brogel Air Base.
Belgian intelligence services believe that a foreign state — most likely Russia — is behind the series of drone incidents that have disrupted air traffic and military operations.
