Denmark: Aalborg airport shut down after drone alert
Aalborg Airport in northern Denmark, also used as an Air Force base, was shut down late on Wednesday, 24 September, after drones were spotted in its air space, police said.
An investigation is under way. The incident follows a similar event at the capital's airport in Copenhagen two days earlier.
According to news agencies, police immediately said after the drones were detected that there was no danger to the airport or Aalborg residents. Police said the number of drones detected was "more than one." There is no confirmation yet that the drones discovered now are the same as those previously observed in Copenhagen, but police stressed that they "are acting according to the same pattern.” Aalborg Airport is much smaller than the one in the capital. Flight monitoring website Flightradar announced that three passenger flights due to land were diverted to other airports. The last flight from Copenhagen was due to arrive at 23:50, and the first return flight was scheduled for 06:20 the following day.
The Copenhagen airport incident occurred on the evening of 22 September, when the facility—the busiest in Scandinavia—was temporarily closed. The drones appeared from different directions, turned their lights on and off, and disappeared after a few hours. This led to the suspension of all takeoffs and landings for nearly four hours. About 100 flights were cancelled, delayed, or diverted. Around 20,000 passengers were affected by the disruption. The airport resumed operations on the morning of 23 September, but delays continued that day.
Separately, the air space above Gardermoen Airport near the Norwegian capital, Oslo, was closed for several hours after the discovery of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) nearby. Several aircraft were diverted on the evening of 22 September. Danish and Norwegian authorities are cooperating to determine if there is any connection between the two incidents.
