Munich Airport in Germany cancelled dozens of flights after drones were spotted near its airspace, BBC reports. Munich Airport reopened on Friday after being closed overnight due to the appearance of drones, which forced the cancellation or diversion of dozens of flights on the eve of a national holiday and heightened concerns about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in Europe, Reuters notes.
Munich Airport reopened after flights were suspended overnight due to the appearance of drones.
At least 17 flights were grounded in Munich, affecting nearly 3,000 passengers.
The airport also announced that it redirected another 15 flights to nearby cities.
It has not yet been confirmed where the drones came from. In recent weeks, several airports in Europe have been shut down because of unidentified drones.
Munich Airport alerted the authorities after the drones were detected.
Flights scheduled to depart from Munich were “suspended,” the airport said.
Air traffic controllers redirected flights scheduled to land in Munich to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt.
Since it was dark, no information was confirmed regarding the type, size, or origin of the drones, Federal Police spokesman Stefan Bayer told Bild newspaper. The drones were first spotted at 9:30 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. GMT) and then again an hour later, police said.
The BBC has contacted Bavaria’s state police and Germany’s Federal Police.
Recently, drone sightings in the European Union led to the convening of a summit of leaders in Copenhagen this week.