Drone sightings force fresh flight cancelations at Brussels airport
Dozens of flights at Belgium’s main international airport were canceled on Wednesday after overnight drone sightings prompted a temporary shutdown, raising new security concerns.
It was the first time that the airport in Brussels has been shut down by drones, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
It comes after a series of unidentified drone flights over the weekend near a military base where U.S. nuclear weapons are stored.
Brussels Airport said that 54 flights were canceled as a result of the Tuesday evening shutdown “for safety reasons” and apologized, saying that “the safety of our passengers and staff remains our top priority.”
The airport operator said that about 400-500 travelers spent the night there after 41 flights were canceled and 24 diverted elsewhere, and that it had set up beds and distributed water and snacks to keep people comfortable.
De Wever convened a meeting of Belgium’s National Security Council, which includes the country’s defense, interior, justice and foreign ministers, for Thursday morning.
In a post on social media, Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said that “the repetition of incidents linked to drones directly affects the security of our country. … We must take action in a calm, serious and coordinated manner.”
The operators of the drones in recent days have not been identified, but Defense Minister Theo Francken insisted that “this is not the work of amateurs,” without elaborating.
Earlier this week, Francken said that flights near the Kleine-Brogel air base on Saturday and Sunday nights appeared to be “a spying operation” aimed at “destabilizing” people.
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