Daily Finland
Air traffic at Munich Airport was suspended for about an hour on Saturday morning following a suspected drone sighting. Take-offs and landings were halted shortly after 9 am (0700 GMT), but the alert was lifted at around 10:05 am, a spokesman for the German airport said. A police spokesman said two pilots had reported a suspicious sighting, prompting an investigation involving a police helicopter. After the investigation found nothing, the closure was lifted and air traffic resumed, the airport spokesman said. A total of 26 aircraft were unable to land due to the temporary closure of the runways and were diverted to alternative airports, a spokesman said. Aircraft that were temporarily grounded are now expected to depart gradually, with delays. The airport remained open throughout the disruption, the spokesman noted. Even while the runways were closed, passengers were able to access the terminal, check in, park and pass security as normal. “The airport is operating at full capacity during the Whitsun holiday period,” the spokesman said, referring to the Christian holiday also known as Pentecost. “On a day like today, around 900 flights take off and land, carrying roughly 120,000 passengers.” German airports have recently been affected by several suspected drone sightings, in some cases leading to temporary suspensions of air traffic. At Munich Airport, suspected drones were spotted on two consecutive evenings in early October, prompting two shutdowns of flight operations. Dozens of flights were diverted or cancelled, affecting thousands of passengers, some of whom spent the night at the airport. A further brief drone alert was reported in November.
Go to News Site