The threat of drones continues in European skies. This time it happens in the heart of Europe. Air traffic at Brussels and Liège international airports was temporarily suspended after a drone was reported in their airspace. The airports of Brussels and Liège reopened shortly after 9pm, according to what was announced by Skeyes, the body responsible for air traffic control in Belgium.
Shortly before 8pm on November 4, a drone was reported flying over the Brussels airport area, explains Kurt Verwilligen, Skeyes’ spokesperson. “As a precaution, all air traffic has been temporarily suspended,” he added.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the last flight took off from Brussels at 7.37pm and landed at 7.46pm, as also reported by Nieuwsblad. Brussels Airport confirmed the temporary closure of the airport, but has not yet provided further details on the causes. “We are currently investigating,” a spokesperson said.
Liège airport also closed
Liege airport was also closed after drones were spotted in its airspace. The Belgian media reported it, explaining that flights departing and arriving in Brussels had been diverted to Liège after the capital’s airport had been closed due to the sighting of aircraft of mysterious origin. The flights have now been diverted out of Belgium, to Cologne and Maastricht.
The sighting of drones on a Belgian military base
A few minutes later a drone incursion was recorded over the Kleine-Brogel military base in the Belgian region of Limburg. The sighting, local media report, was made known by some residents of the nearby town of Peer. The local police were able to verify the sighting of two aircraft. “The situation is confusing, the federal police helicopter was called to follow the drones,” explained the mayor of Peer, according to local media reports.
The precedents
Only a few days ago a similar episode occurred in Berlin, where the sighting of a drone in the skies of the German capital forced the authorities to suspend flights to and from Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) for almost two hours. Last September, Copenhagen and Oslo airports were also forced to temporarily suspend operations after drones were spotted near the runways. Similar events occurred last weekend over a military air base in Belgium, fueling concerns about the safety of European airspace.
These episodes are part of a growing series of security alerts linked to the presence of drones in the vicinity of European airports, which in recent months have caused interruptions and delays in the continent’s main airports, raising the specter of hybrid warfare behind which the Kremlin is believed to be behind.
