This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/25/drones-aalborg-airport-denmark-closed-days-after-copenhagen-oslo

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Denmark airport closes due to drones, two days after incursions in Copenhagen and Oslo ‘Professional actor’ behind attacks that closed Danish airports, defence minister says
(about 4 hours later)
Police say the drones over Aalborg airport followed a similar pattern to the ones that had halted flights at Copenhagen airport a few days earlier Drones overfly four more airports forcing Aalborg to halt traffic two nights after shutdown at Copenhagen terminals
Denmark’s Aalborg airport was closed for hours due to drones in its airspace, local police said early on Thursday, two days after the country’s main Copenhagen airport was shut over drone sightings that rattled European aviation. Europe – live updates
Danish national police said the drones followed a similar pattern to the ones that had halted flights at Copenhagen airport for four hours a few days earlier. The country’s armed forces were also affected, as Aalborg airport is used as a military base, they added. Denmark’s defence minister says the country has been the victim of a professional hybrid attack after drones flew over four airports overnight in the second such incursion in a matter of days.
Danish police verified drone activity also occurred on Wednesday evening at Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup airports in a statement and posts on X early on Thursday morning, though they were not closed. The drone sightings began shortly before 10pm on Wednesday and ended just before 1am on Thursday. Flights were halted for several hours at Aalborg airport, which also serves as a military base, and airports in Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup were also affected. Skrydstrup is home to some of the Danish military’s fighter jets.
In an update after midnight, the country’s police commissioner, Chief Police Inspector Jesper Bøjgaard Madsen, said attempts would be made to “take down” the drones. On Monday night Copenhagen airport was forced to close as a result of the presence of three drones.
In a second statement Danish policesaid the latest confirmed sighting of an active drone was at 12.54am Thursday morning in the airspace near Aalborg Airport. “There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time,” the defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said at a press conference. “This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.”
“We have not succeeded in taking down the drones themselves,” police said. He added: This is an arms race against time because technology is constantly evolving.”
Denmark said on Tuesday the incident at Copenhagen airport was the most serious attack yet on its critical infrastructure and linked it to a series of suspected Russian drone incursions and other disruptions across Europe. He said Denmark was considering activating Nato’s article 4, for the first time in Danish history, but a decision had not yet been made. Denmark contacted Nato on Thursday morning, he said, adding: “In addition to article 4, there are other things that can be done through Nato.”
Authorities in Norway also shut the airspace at Oslo airport for three hours on Monday evening after a drone was seen. Poulsen said that although the Danish armed forces had “a number of capabilities”, they would like to have more. The government has come under criticism in recent days for not shooting down the drones.
Northern Jutland police told reporters that “more than one drone” had been sighted near Aalborg airport and they were flying with lights on. Denmark’s minister of justice, Peter Hummelgaard, said the goal of the flyovers was to sow fear and division and that the country would seek additional ways to neutralise drones, including proposing legislation to allow infrastructure owners to shoot them down. He said Copenhagen was “not ruling out anything in terms of who is behind this”.
The drones were first sighted at about 9.44 pm local time on Wednesday, according to police, and remained in the airspace at the time of the press briefing at 12.05 am on Thursday. The drone flights follow similar incursions in Poland and Romania and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which have raised tensions in light of Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine.
Northern Jutland police said they could not specify the type of drones or whether they were the same as the ones flying over Copenhagen airport on Monday. “The threat from hybrid attacks is here to stay,” said Hummelgaard, describing recent events as “deeply worrying incidents across Europe”.
“It is too early to say what the goal of the drones is and who is the actor behind,” a police official said. A joint EU meeting has been called on Friday to discuss Europe’s drone defence and the establishment of a “drone wall”.
Norwegian and Danish authorities are in close contact over the Copenhagen and Oslo incidents on Monday but their investigation has not yet established a connection, Norway’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. Danish police said the sightings on Wednesday night followed a similar pattern to the ones that shut down Copenhagen airport on Monday.
Eurocontrol, which oversees European air traffic control, said arrivals and departures at Aalborg airport would be at a “zero rate” until 0400 GMT on Thursday due to drone activity in the vicinity. According to North Jutland police, “more than one drone” was seen near Aalborg airport flying with lights on. The first was seen at about 9.44pm local time and drones were still in the airspace after midnight.
Police said they were investigating further on site in collaboration with the national security agency and Danish Armed forces, and there was no danger to passengers at the airport or residents in the area. Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup airports remained open despite the drone sightings.
They added that three flights had been diverted to other airports. The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the drone incursion that shut down Copenhagen airport for several hours was the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date”.
The police commissioner encouraged witnesses to document suspicious drone activity in the highest resolution possible and asked those with relevant information to contact the authorities. Authorities are still investigating who was behind the flyover, but Frederiksen said she could not rule out Russia. Moscow has denied any involvement.
Police said there is “nothing that prevents air traffic from being resumed” and urged passengers to stay up to date with the relevant airline’s website and communications.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse