Major airport shut down as planes forced to divert amid 'large' drone incident

An international airport has been forced to close after drones were spotted in the vicinity, causing major disruption on Monday evening.

Up to three autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) were reportedly detected in the airspace over Copenhagen Airport in Denmark as police have swarmed the area. "We have a massive presence out there", Henrik Stormer, the head of the Copenhagen Police, told reporters.

The airport closed to take-offs and arrivals at around 8.26pm local time (7.26pm UK time), according to Naviair - the company responsible for traffic control at the airport. A post by FlightRadar on X (formerly Twitter) said that as of 10.05pm local time (8.05pm UTC), more than 35 flights bound for the airport had been diverted to other airports due to the drone situation.

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A later post read: "More than two hours after leaving the gate #U24652 from Copenhagen to Paris is headed back as authorities continue to investigate reported drone sightings near the airport. The airfield remains closed until 2300 UTC (tentative)."

While a post on X from the local police said: "[The airport] is currently closed for take-off and landing, as 2-3 large drones have been seen flying in the area. The time horizon is currently unknown."

A spokesperson for Copenhagen Airport confirmed that the airspace over the airport has been closed due to unidentified drones, telling Reuters: "Police are investigating the matter and we currently have to timeline for reopening." They added: "It is clear that we are interested in them finding out as soon as possible and that the drones disappear so that we can resume normal operations."

Most of the flights have been diverted to Malmö, Billund, Aarhus and Gothenburg. No information has yet been released on where the drones may have come from.

One frustrated passenger, Mikael Belstrup, told a local TV channel: “We were told that Copenhagen Airport was closed due to drones and that the staff didn't know anything. We are still in the plane and they are refuelling it so we have the opportunity to come back if or when the airport opens.”

Elsewhere, additional drones have also been spotted in the Norwegian capital of Oslo - though it is unclear if the incidents are linked. Norwegian media reported that the UAVs were flown over the Akershus Fortress, a medieval castle, with two people being arrested in connection with the incident.

Copenhagen Airport is the largest airport of all the Nordic countries, serving around 30 million passengers last year. In April, it celebrated its 100th anniversary, with a spokesperson saying at the time "We have gone from 252 passengers in the first year to almost 30 million in 2024."

The news comes after a passenger jet came so close to colliding with a drone in May that the object “filled” the plane’s windscreen. The Airbus A320 had just taken off from London’s Heathrow Airport and was at 9,000ft during the near miss.

A report revealed: “Both the Captain and First Officer saw a bright white object pass overhead from the opposite direction. The object appeared to be approximately 2-3m in size at the very least, it may have been larger as it filled a good proportion of the windshield. There was no appreciable separation vertical or horizontal."

It added: “The First Officer observed that it was triangular in shape. The Captain only saw the object for a second or two in peripheral vision so could not reliably comment on the shape. No markings were identified."

While in a separate incident in January, a drone came within 10m-20m of colliding with a Boeing 737 airliner on its approach to Gatwick Airport. Investigators said it was only due to “providence” that a more serious incident did not take place.

The official papers stated: “The B737 pilot reports passing over the south coast, descending into LGW, when the Captain saw a black object (believed to be a drone) in front of the aircraft. There was no time to take avoiding action and the object passed 10-20m on the right-hand side of the aircraft."