In recent weeks, European aviation has faced repeated disruptions from mysterious drone sightings, with authorities in multiple countries pointing fingers at Russia for orchestrating hybrid attacks aimed at sowing chaos and testing defences.
These incidents coincide with heightened alerts in the Baltic region over suspected sabotage of undersea cables, gas pipeline outages, airspace violations, and further drone incursions, leaving affected nations, the European Union and NATO scrambling for effective countermeasures.
The wave of drone disruptions began intensifying in late September 2025, starting with sightings near Copenhagen Airport in Denmark. On 22 September, two or three large drones were spotted, forcing the Nordic region’s busiest airport to halt all take-offs and landings for nearly four hours.
Similar incursions shut down Oslo Airport in Norway around the same time, diverting flights and stranding passengers. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the events as designed “to disrupt and create unrest,” linking them to a broader pattern of suspected Russian hybrid threats, including airspace violations in Poland and Romania, and hacker attacks on airports.
By 25 September, additional drone sorties closed airports in Aalborg and elsewhere in Denmark, prompting the government to classify them as hybrid attacks combining military and covert tactics.
These aviation woes extended to Germany, where drone sightings over Munich Airport on 2 October led to the cancellation of 17 flights and diversions affecting nearly 3,000 passengers on the eve of a national holiday. Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder called for police powers to shoot down drones, highlighting the vulnerability of critical infrastructure.
Both runways at Munich airport were closed on 3 October evening for the second time in less than 24 hours after drones were again sighted, leading to dozens of flights being diverted or cancelled and stranding some 6,500 passengers, authorities said.
Earlier, in Poland, nearly 20 Russian drones violated airspace on 10 September, prompting NATO jets to shoot down several – the first such instance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This forced temporary closures at Warsaw Chopin, Modlin, Rzeszow, and Lublin airports, reigniting fears for civil aviation safety across Europe.