Munich Airport shuts again after suspected drone sightings in surrounding area

German authorities have shut down Munich Airport for the second time in less than 24 hours after more suspected drone sightings.

The closures are the latest after mysterious drone overflights in the airspace of European Union member countries.

The airport suspended flight operations on Friday night until further notice “as a precautionary measure due to unconfirmed sightings,” the statement said.

Germany’s air traffic control previously restricted flights at the airport on Thursday night and then halted them altogether, the airport said in a previous statement. Seventeen flights were unable to take off, affecting almost 3,000 passengers, while 15 arriving flights were diverted to three other airports in Germany and one in Vienna, Austria.

Flights in and out of the airport then resumed early on Friday morning, said Stefan Bayer, a spokesperson for Germany’s federal police at Munich airport.

The incident was the latest in a series of incidents of mysterious drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites in several European Union member countries. Drones also were spotted overnight in Belgium above a military base.

A drone incident in Oslo, the capital of Norway, which is a NATO member but not part of the EU, affected flights there late last month.

European authorities have expressed concerns that the flyovers are being carried out by Russia, though some experts have noted that anybody with drones could be behind them. Russian authorities have rejected claims of involvement, including in recent drone incidents in Denmark.

The Munich Airport said in a statement early Friday that there had been “several drone sightings”. In a later statement, it clarified that “detection and defence against drones” falls to federal and state police.

After the closure of the runways early Friday, federal police deployed helicopters and other means to try to track down the drones, but no signs of them could be found, Bayer said.

Hundreds of stranded passengers spent the night in beds set up in terminals or were taken to hotels, and blankets, drinks and snacks were distributed.

Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s interior minister said he and some European counterparts would discuss the drone incursions, and a “drone detection and defence plan” at a meeting this weekend in Munich.

“We are in a race between drone threat and drone defence. We want to and must win this race,” he said in the western city of Saarbrücken, where he joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Germany’s reunification.