Drone interrupts flight operations at Berlin Airport for two hours

Flight operations at Berlin's Brandenburg Airport, coded 'BER', were interrupted for around two hours late on Friday due to a drone sighting in its airspace. This was confirmed to German media outlets by a spokesperson for the airport.

A witness had reported a drone at around 8 pm local time. The police then deployed several emergency services and a helicopter. The northern runway was initially closed. According to the Brandenburg police, a patrol car crew also confirmed the sighting. The trail of the unidentified aircraft later disappeared.

Following further tip-offs, the Federal Aviation Office also became involved in the investigation. The police helicopter remained in operation until late in the evening.

In neighbouring Belgium, several drones were also observed over the Kleine Brogel air base, which will be home to the recently acquired US-made F-35 fighter jets, prompting an investigation.

Several aircraft diverted

All flight operations at BER were suspended between 8 pm until shortly before 10 pm. Several arriving aircraft had to be diverted; four landed in Dresden, four in Leipzig and three others in Hamburg.

The flights affected were arriving from popular destinations like Stockholm, Antalya and Helsinki.

Berlin Airport received special authorisation for take-offs and landings in order to deal with the backlog. Aircraft were allowed to take off until around 1 am and land until 4 am. This is an exception to the normal ban on night flights between midnight and 5 am.

"Airport operations started as normal this morning," said a spokesperson for the airport to German media outlets on Saturday. "There are no longer any restrictions for travellers," they added.

'Wake-up call in terms of security policy'

The airport association ADV called for consequences for Friday evening's violation. The closure of the capital's airport for several hours was a "wake-up call in terms of security policy", said ADV Managing Director Ralph Beisel.

"When take-offs and landings are stopped and numerous aircraft have to be diverted to other airports, it is not only flight operations that come to a standstill, passenger confidence in the safety of air traffic also suffers."

Beisel emphasised that the state must significantly improve drone detection and defence.

"Airports must not be left alone here. Drone detection and defence are sovereign tasks of the state and must be tackled comprehensively and consistently," he noted.

Not an isolated case at BER

Drone overflights are no longer a rarity in German airspace. According to German Air Traffic Control (DFS), five obstructions caused by drones have already been recorded at Berlin Airport this year. In 2023, there were over 15, and 20 in 2022.

DFS has observed a total of 144 incidents throughout Germany so far this year, 35 of which were in the vicinity of Frankfurt Airport alone.

The unidentified drones are sighted particularly frequently over airports, but also over military installations and transport routes. It is not yet clear how many of these incidents are the result of targeted espionage.

The majority of observations are made by pilots or discovered by air traffic control officers. Around 90 per cent of the reported incidents occur in the vicinity of larger airports, said the DFS in a recent interview with Euronews.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, of the Christian Social Union party (CSU), announced plans to speed up drone defence throughout the country.

The aim is to pool expertise between the federal and state governments, develop new defence technologies and more closely interlink police and military systems.