Flight operations at Berlin airport have been suspended for a period due to the sighting of drones.
Flights at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany were halted for nearly two hours on Friday evening after a drone was spotted flying near the airport runways. The stoppage occurred between 8:08 PM and 9:58 PM local time while authorities investigated the report.
One witness reported to the police seeing a drone, and subsequent surveillance patrols confirmed its presence near the northern runway of the airport. The operator was not found, nor was the drone intercepted.
The closure caused the diversion and delay of many flights, with some incoming and outgoing aircraft being redirected to other German airports. The airport temporarily lifted the night flight ban to help address the backlog caused by the stoppage.
Officials said that this incident is not the first of its kind, as Europe is witnessing an increase in drone incidents that disrupt air traffic, such as what recently happened at airports in Denmark, Norway, Poland, and Germany.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incident as a "hybrid threat" and called for strengthening counter-drone systems to detect, track, and disable them when flying near critical infrastructure.