Unidentified drones blocked activity at an airport in Germany. Several flights were cancelled
Hannover Airport Photo: Gruffydd Thomas/D / Alamy / Profimedia
The airspace above the airport in the city of Hanover, in northern Germany, was closed due to the presence of unidentified drones in the area, an airport spokesman announced on Saturday, according to DPA, taken over by Agerpres.
Hanover Airport was closed from Friday evening at 21:47 (20:47 GMT) until Saturday at 12:16 (11:16 GMT), with seven flights having to be diverted to Paderborn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and other destinations.
Also, two planes did not land in Hanover for security reasons and therefore could not take off on Saturday. These were connecting flights to Frankfurt and Paris, which had to be cancelled.
According to the publication Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, a drone was first observed near a nearby airfield at an altitude of about 80 meters. An hour later, at least two drones approached the airport itself.
In November, Hanover airport was closed for 45 minutes due to a drone.
In recent months, the presence of drones has caused the disruption of flights from several airports in Germany. Russia is suspected for these incidents, but so far no concrete evidence has been presented.
Earlier in December, the head of the German Federal Police Office, Holger Münch, said that more than 1,000 suspicious drone flights had been recorded in Germany this year.
The incidents more frequently involved military objectives and airports, but also other essential infrastructures, such as ports.
