Munich airport closed due to unknown drones
Illustrative photo: Munich was closed due to unknown drones (GettyImages)
The airport in the German city of Munich was temporarily closed again on the evening of October 18 following reports of unknown drones, according to AP.
Several people, including security staff and airport employees, reported "suspicious observations." The incident occurred around 22:00 local time and lasted approximately half an hour, then repeated around 23:00.
The airport administration noted that the situation almost did not affect passengers or flight schedules. Three planes were temporarily redirected — two of them later landed in Munich, and one departure had to be canceled.
The federal police, after an inspection, did not find any drones or suspicious individuals in the area.
Around midnight on October 18, the airport resumed operations, and by the next morning, air traffic returned to normal.
Drone flights over European countries
Over the past two weeks, numerous flights of unknown drones have been recorded over military and infrastructure facilities in Poland, Germany, and other European countries.
On September 9, Russian drones entered Polish airspace, and on September 19, three MiG-31 fighter jets crossed the Estonian border and remained in the sky over the country for more than 12 minutes. This incident was the most serious in the last two decades.
On September 27, drones were observed near the Erland airbase in Norway. This airfield hosts a large number of F-35 fighters, and NATO exercises have recently taken place there.
That same day, drones were spotted for the second time in Denmark, particularly over airports in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sønnerborg, and near the Skrydstrup airbase.
At the same time, Ryanair has called for drones threatening European airports to be shot down. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary criticized EU leaders for their inability to protect strategic facilities from drone attacks.
