MUNICH: Munich Airport, Germany was forced to suspend operations for the second consecutive night on Friday following multiple drone sightings, disrupting dozens of flights and stranding more than 6,000 passengers. The repeated incursions have heightened concerns about Europe’s vulnerability to unmanned aerial threats.
According to airport officials, air traffic was first restricted around 9:30 p.m. and later completely halted after confirmed drone sightings near both the north and south runways. Police patrols visually identified two drones just before 11 p.m., but the aircraft disappeared before they could be traced or identified.
As a result, 23 incoming flights were diverted, 12 departures cancelled, and 46 additional flights delayed or postponed until Saturday morning. “The drones immediately moved away before they could be identified,” a police spokesperson told AFP.
To accommodate stranded travellers, Munich Airport set up camp beds, blankets, and refreshment stations in the terminals. Initially, normal service was expected to resume at 5 a.m., but that reopening was later delayed until 7 a.m.
A String of Incidents Across Europe
Friday’s disruption followed a similar incident the previous night, when drones were detected flying near the towns of Freising and Erding, close to the airport perimeter. Both runways were closed for several hours, forcing the cancellation of more than 30 flights and leaving 3,000 passengers stranded.
Erding is home to a German military airfield, and reports from Bild suggested that some of the drones may have flown over the facility, though police have not confirmed this. Helicopters were deployed in both incidents, but authorities still have no information on the number or type of drones involved.
The latest wave of drone sightings comes as several European countries grapple with similar disruptions. Airports in Denmark, Norway, and Poland have recently suspended operations after reports of unidentified drones. Meanwhile, Estonia and Romania have accused Russia of deliberate airspace violations — allegations that Moscow has dismissed as “unfounded.”
Political Alarm and Legal Response
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incidents as a “wake-up call”, warning that drone threats are evolving faster than Europe’s defensive capabilities. “The race between the threat from drones and the means to counter them is becoming increasingly difficult,” he told Bild, calling for greater investment in drone defence research and technology both at national and EU levels.
The timing of the disruptions added to the public unease. The incidents coincided with German Unity Day, a national holiday, and the final weekend of Oktoberfest, when Munich attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. The festival had already faced a temporary closure earlier in the week due to a bomb scare.
The German government is now expected to approve new legislation allowing the military to shoot down drones when deemed necessary. Bavaria’s state premier, Markus Söder, has urged that both the army and the police be granted immediate authority to neutralize airborne threats. “We must be able to take down drones without delay,” he said.
A Broader European Security Challenge
Across the continent, officials are increasingly viewing drone incursions as part of a wider hybrid threat landscape. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned last week that Europe faces its “most dangerous situation since the Second World War”, adding pointedly that “only one country poses a threat to Europe’s security — and that’s Russia.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed that sentiment, saying that recent incursions demonstrate Moscow’s intention to “escalate” its aggression beyond the battlefield in Ukraine.
Moscow, for its part, has categorically denied any involvement, with President Vladimir Putin accusing European governments of spreading “hysteria” to justify growing military budgets.
With repeated drone sightings over German airspace — including near military and industrial sites — European governments now face a pressing challenge: how to defend against small, hard-to-trace aerial incursions that can ground thousands of flights and expose the fragility of civilian and military infrastructure alike.
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