Germany shuts down Munich Airport due to drone sightings as Bavaria pushes for tougher response
Editor's note: This item has been updated with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soder's statement.
Germany's Munich Airport temporarily suspended operations the evening of Oct. 2 due to suspicious drone sightings in the area, airport officials said.
The closure follows a series of mysterious drone sightings in European airspace in recent days, including an incident in northern Germany on Sept. 26.
Several drone sightings were reported late in the evening of Oct. 2, prompting German air traffic control to restrict and then suspend flight operations shortly after 10 p.m. local time, Munich Airport said in a statement.
The closure grounded 17 flights, affecting nearly 3,000 passengers. Fifteen arriving flights were also rerouted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt.
The statement did not disclose how many drones were seen in the area.
After the incident, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soder called for German police to be authorized to shoot down unidentified drones, saying his state is already drafting legislation to allow it.
"The drone incidents demonstrate the immense pressure. From now on, the rule must be: shoot down drones instead of waiting. And do so consistently," Soder told Bild.
"Our police must be able to shoot down drones immediately."
Similar drone sightings in recent weeks have disrupted operations at major transportation hubs, including Oslo Airport in Norway and Copenhagen Airport in Denmark, both of which were temporarily shut down as a precaution.
An unidentified drone was also observed flying over the Norwegian Equinor-operated Sleipner gas field in the North Sea on Sept. 29. A day later, another drone was recorded flying over Bronnoysund Airport in Norway.
Drones have also been previously spotted in Germany. German police on Sept. 29 reported sightings of large quadcopters near the Rostock seaport. Authorities in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein also reported multiple drone sightings overnight on Sept. 26.
The German outlet Der Spiegel reported on Oct. 1 that those drones may have been surveilling critical infrastructure.
The drone sightings follow a rash of high-profile Russian airspace violations that have heightened tensions between Moscow and NATO.
In early September, Polish forces shot down several Russian drones that had entered their airspace during a mass attack against Ukraine. A Russian drone also breached Romanian territory a few days later, though Bucharest opted not to engage it.
Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets also briefly entered Estonian airspace on Sept. 19, remaining there for 12 minutes before being intercepted by NATO forces.
