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.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrai...
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the ...
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 p...
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad saying the strike originated from Iraq.
Mexico and the U.S. are racing to secure a trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections in less than eight weeks, according to six sources familiar with the talks, with failed negotiations between Washington and Canada adding urgency.
Dubai’s property market has spent years climbing. Now, for the first time since 2021, prices are moving in the opposite direction.
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 people have been evacuated and six have died, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Sunday.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
Swedes vote in an election on Sunday (13 September) that could see the far-right enter government for the first time if the country's right-wing parties can form a majority.
Philippine rescuers recovered 41 more charred remains from a ferry fire on Saturday (12 September), taking the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained unaccounted for as forensic teams worked to identify the victims.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment