Denmark, Norway Close Airports After Drone Sightings

Unidentified drones flew close to Denmark’s main airport in what its prime minister called a “serious attack” on the country’s critical infrastructure.

Copenhagen Airport, the busiest in the Nordic region, was shut down for four hours on Monday night when up to three large drones violated its restricted airspace. Hours later, Oslo Airport was temporarily closed following two sightings of drones.

The closures, blamed on a “capable operator”, caused widespread disruptions and left tens of thousands of passengers stranded as flights were diverted, delayed and cancelled.

The countries are working together to determine whether the incidents are connected, said officials, who did not rule out Russian involvement.

Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, described the incident at Copenhagen Airport as “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

“It says something about the times we live in and what we as a society must be prepared to deal with,” she told broadcaster TV2 on Tuesday, adding that authorities were working to establish who was behind it.

Danish intelligence also raised concerns over the “high threat” of sabotage the Nordic country was facing after police said a “capable operator” was behind the alleged attack.

Flemming Drejer, the director of operations at PET intelligence service, told a press conference: “We are facing a high threat of sabotage in Denmark. Someone may not necessarily want to attack us, but rather stress us out and see how we react.”

Copenhagen Airport halted all take-offs and landings at about 8.30pm local time (7.30pm BST) and remained closed for nearly four hours, diverting more than 30 flights to other airports and affecting some 20,000 passengers. Operations resumed just past midnight.

Asked by reporters if the drones were of Russian origin, the deputy assistant commissioner Jakon Hansen said he could not confirm or deny this. “It is not known where the drones came from. It is also not known where they have since flown,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, appeared to suggest Moscow was behind the incident, raising the issue in a meeting with Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

The pair “discussed Russia’s violations of the airspace of Nato member states, including … in Copenhagen”, with Mr Zelensky warning that “Russia will continue its aggressive actions, testing the societies of European and Nato countries,” according to the president’s office.

Soon after the drones were detected in Copenhagen, Oslo Airport also closed its airspace for three hours after sightings of two drones at about midnight local time (11pm BST).

Flights resumed after 3am local time (2am BST). Officials, however, have warned of ongoing delays and further cancellations.

It comes as Europe is on high alert after a large-scale Russian drone incursion into Poland earlier this month that prompted Nato to rapidly deploy warplanes to shoot them down.

At least 19 drones entered Warsaw’s airspace on the night of Sept 9 to Sept 10, four of which were downed in the first direct engagement between Nato and Moscow.

Days later, three Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace in the latest provocation on the Western alliance’s eastern front.

EU and Nato officials have argued that Russia is deliberately trying to test Europe’s resolve and probe its defences.

‘Sophisticated’ solutions needed

Karl Rosander, a drone technology expert and chief executive of Nordic Air Defence, a Swedish drone defence system provider, told The Telegraph: “These airport incursions are the perfect example of why protecting public spaces against drones needs a more sophisticated solution than just ‘shooting them down’.

“Using traditional methods in proximity to fuel tanks and hundreds of civilians heightens risk, which is why we need more sophisticated solutions to safely and quickly counter-act drone incursions, including interceptors.

“Kinetic interception is the most efficient and cost-effective way to quickly, easily and accurately take down drones and neutralise the threat within civilian space in a non-lethal way.

“The kinetic force of the interceptor missile physically disables the drone, knocking it out of the sky, without using ballistics in a public space. Other alternatives at our disposal could include deploying nets.”

The drone sightings near Nordic airports also follow a cyber attack that disrupted airport systems across Europe, including at Heathrow, Berlin, and Brussels.

The outage resulted in more than 400 delayed departures from Heathrow and at least seven cancellations, according to flight-tracking data. The Government has faced calls to investigate whether the Kremlin was behind the attack after Moscow’s jets violated Estonia’s air space just hours before.

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats noted that three Russian military jets had violated Estonian airspace hours before the incident.

Moscow has insisted its aircraft remained in neutral international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

EU and Nato leaders have yet to comment publicly on the latest drone sightings.