Germany installs laser at Munich airport to ward off drones, media report

A laser installation is deployed near the Munich airport to protect the German airport from any additional drone sightings, according to local media.

German newspaper Bild cites anonymous security sources that the laser equipment will allow authorities to find the drone’s distance from the airport.

Euronews Next contacted Germany’s Federal Police to independently verify this claim but did not hear back at the time of publication.

The news comes after Munich airport closed for two consecutive days last week over suspicious drone flights. 

The first sightings came around 8:30 pm local time on 2 October in areas around the airport, including the towns of Freising and Erding. Drones were later seen near the airport fence and two hours later around the airport, according to an airport statement.

A preventative closure was then put in place that saw 17 flights cancelled and 15 flights diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt as police launched “extensive search operations” in the area. Officials at the time set up camp beds with blankets, drinks and snacks provided to passengers on cancelled flights. 

A day later, German police said they spotted two drone sightings shortly before 11 pm near the airport’s north and south runways, the agency said in a statement, but flew away before they could be identified, according to the Associated Press news agency. 

More drone sightings on the morning of 4 October saw another 170 flights cancelled or diverted, the airport said. 

Munich just wrapped up Oktoberfest celebrations, a popular annual event that sees millions of people flock to the city.. At the same time, the city is hosting a so-called government-held Munich Migration Meeting, where most of the discussion was concentrated on drone response.

Munich is just the latest place in Europe that has seen drone incursions in recent weeks. At least 11 countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Norway, Romania, Poland, Estonia, Germany, Belgium, and France, have seen drones or disruptions over their territory in the past three months.

European leaders agreed at meetings in Copenhagen last week to push ahead with plans for a so-called “drone wall” along the bloc’s eastern border.