Air traffic at Berlin Brandenburg Airport was temporarily suspended on Friday evening after drone sightings, causing delays and flights being diverted.
An airport spokesman said takeoffs and landings were suspended between 8:08 pm local time (1908 GMT) and 9:58 pm local time, and that “a whole range of flights” were diverted to other German cities during the closure.
He said restrictions on night flights to Berlin have also been relaxed to minimize the impact on flight operations. “We believe the threat has now passed,” the spokesperson said.
What do we know about the incident?
At around 8 pm (19:00 GMT), the airport’s northern runway was closed after a witness reported seeing a drone, according to a police spokesperson.
Officers in a patrol car later also spotted a drone, but were unable to locate it.
There was a significant response to the incident, including the deployment of a police helicopter. Germany’s Federal Aviation Office also joined the operation.
Which flights were delayed or redirected?
Flights to Basel, Oslo and Barcelona could not depart due to the blockage.
According to the dpa news agency, a flight from London to Berlin was diverted to Hamburg after the pilot cited drone activity as the reason.
The flight schedule showed that flights from Stockholm, Antalya and Helsinki to Berlin were also redirected.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport advised passengers to check their flight status with their airlines.
Drones banned around German airports
To prevent interference with takeoffs and landings, drones are banned within 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) of German airports.
Sightings may result in partial or complete suspension of operations, and illegal flights near airports are considered dangerous to civil aviation and may result in severe punishment.
Recently airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland have suspended flights due to unidentified drones. In early October, drones were spotted over the southern German city of Munich, causing the city’s airport to be closed twice and thousands of passengers stranded after flights were canceled or diverted.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko