Germany's Munich airport reopened on 3 October after shutting overnight due to drone sightings that forced the cancellation or diversion of dozens of flights and heightened concerns about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in Europe.
As operations resumed early on Friday morning, a Reuters witness saw passengers checking in for a flight to Varna in Bulgaria, and the departure board showed only a few flights had been cancelled.
The airport said several drone sightings late on Thursday evening had forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers, who were provided with camp beds, blankets and food.
Another 15 arriving flights were diverted to other cities including Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt, the airport said.
The drones were sighted in the late evening above the airport, a police spokesman told newspaper Bild. But because it was dark, the size and types of the drones could not be determined, he added.
The disruption in Munich is the latest in a string of similar drone incidents that have rattled European aviation and raised broader security concerns, coming after airspace intrusions temporarily shut airports in Denmark and Norway last week.
The incidents prompted a sharp response from European Union leaders, who backed plans at a summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday to bolster the bloc's defences with anti-drone measures.
"Europe must be able to defend itself," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said after the meeting.
Authorities have not publicly blamed a specific actor for the Munich drone incident, but some European officials have suggested Russia is behind other recent airspace violations.
Russia has previously denied involvement in the drone activity.
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Tajikistan is urging regional allies to step up support for its border with Afghanistan following a series of deadly armed incidents. Despite building more than 80 new border outposts, Dushanbe says it needs further assistance to secure its southern frontier.
Eight people have been killed and at least 17 injured after an apartment building collapsed into a neighbouring construction site in Brooklyn, New York, as rescuers continued searching the rubble for possible survivors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for facilitating talks between Russia and Ukraine, but warned that any foreign troops deployed in Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets by Moscow.
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