Munich airport halts flights after drones detected nearby
Munich Airport in Germany temporarily closed on Thursday night and cancelled over a dozen flights following reports of drones spotted near its airspace.
At least 17 flights were grounded in Munich, affecting nearly 3,000 passengers, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Munich airport said it diverted a further 15 flights to nearby cities.
There was no immediate confirmation of where the drones had come from. Several airports across Europe have closed down in recent weeks because of unidentified drones.
Munich airport alerted authorities after the drones were detected. Flights out of Munich airport were "suspended", the airport said, and the airport closed two hours ahead of its usual midnight to 05:00 curfew.
Air traffic control redirected flights that were due to land in Munich to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt.
Because it was dark, no information on the type, size or origins of the drones was confirmed, Federal Police spokesperson Stefan Bayer told the Bild Newspaper. The drones were first seen at 21:30 local time (19:30 GMT), and then again an hour later, police said.
Recent drone sightings across the European Union prompted a leaders' summit in Copenhagen this week.
20 Russian drones crossed into Poland and Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace in separate recent incidents.
Copenhagen and Oslo airports were forced to close after unidentified drones were spotted near airport and military airspaces.
Russia has denied any involvement, while Danish authorities say there was no evidence Moscow was involved.
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