Drone chaos paralyzes airports in Denmark and Norway

Unidentified drones entered the airspace over the capitals of Denmark and Norway, prompting the closure of airports in Copenhagen and Oslo and large-scale police operations, on Sept. 22, Reuters reports.

Authorities said two to three large drones were involved. Several flights were either canceled or diverted to Malmö Airport in Sweden.

“The airport shutdowns came after a string of disruptions at European airports in recent days,” journalists said.

Flightradar24, which tracks airport and flight activity, reported that 51 flights were diverted and 109 flights were cancelled at the Copenhagen Airport. 

Meanwhile, 11 flights were diverted and 19 flights were cancelled at Oslo’s airport. 

Around 11 p.m. local time, a plane in Copenhagen had to make an emergency landing because it didn’t have enough fuel to reach another airport, despite the airspace being closed.

In Norway, military forces detected drones over Oslo’s Akershus Fortress around 9 p.m. Police launched an operation and arrested two Singaporean nationals in connection with the incident.

By 11:30 p.m., drones were again spotted over the Oslo Gardermoen Airport. Initially, planes were still able to land on a single runway, but after the drones reappeared, the airport was on full lockdown.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she does not rule out Russian involvement, calling the situation “a serious attack on Denmark’s critical infrastructure.” 

The Kremlin dismissed the Danish government’s statements as “baseless.”

For context, on Sept. 19, three Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace for about 12 minutes. The same day, Poland reported that two Russian aircraft flew low over the Petrobaltic oil platform in the Baltic Sea, violating its safety zone.