Belgium’s Brussels and Liege airports were closed on Tuesday evening after drone sightings, diverting many incoming planes and preventing others from taking off.
Kurt Verwilligen, a spokesperson for the Belgian air traffic control service, said shortly before 8 p.m. local time that a drone had been seen near Brussels Airport, which was then closed as a security precaution.
Belgium’s busiest airport briefly reopened after two hours of disruption, but was closed again after more drone sightings. It was unclear when flights would resume.
National carrier Brussels Airlines said 15 outbound flights were unable to take off, while eight incoming flights were diverted to other airports.
Danish officials say a series of drone incursions they’re calling hybrid attacks at airports were carried out by ‘professional actors,’ and some analysts are pointing to Russia as a culprit. Russia has denied involvement.
Cargo airport also closed
Liege Airport, used principally as a cargo hub, was also closed due to drone sightings, an airport spokesperson said.
The incidents followed drones seen over a Belgian military air base during the weekend.
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken told public broadcaster RTBF that Tuesday’s incident appeared to have been carried out by professionals intent on destabilizing the country.
Drones have caused considerable disruption across Europe in recent months. In September, Copenhagen Airport was closed for four hours and Oslo Airport for three hours following drone sightings. There were also suspected Russian drone incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace.
Drones also forced Munich’s airport to close twice in 24 hours.
Andrew Chang explains why Poland’s shooting of Russian drones is a global concern. Plus, why Vladimir Putin is escalating the war in Ukraine. Finally, we look at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s latest meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
