Monday, November 3
Flight operations at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) were suspended for approximately two hours on Friday evening after a drone was spotted near the airport. Several aircrafts were forced to divert to alternative airports, though normal operations have since resumed. Drones are prohibited within a 1.5-kilometre radius of airports as they can endanger takeoffs and landings.
Flight operations were suspended between 8pm and shortly before 10pm. Multiple planes scheduled to land at BER were diverted – four to Dresden, four to Leipzig and three to Hamburg. Affected flights included services from Stockholm, Antalya, and Helsinki. An airport spokesman confirmed that services were halted following the sighting. By Saturday morning, the airport was operating normally again with no disruptions for travellers.
The airport received special permission to extend operating hours beyond the usual restrictions. Aircraft were permitted to depart until 1am and land until 4am on Saturday, despite the strict night flight ban normally in force between midnight and 5am.
Police responded to the incident on Friday evening, deploying a helicopter amongst other resources. Around 20:00, a witness reported seeing a drone, prompting authorities to initially close the airport’s northern runway. According to Brandenburg Police, patrol officers confirmed the sighting but were subsequently unable to locate the drone.
Police currently have no leads on who operated Friday’s drone or their motives. “At present, we cannot say who is behind these drone flights,” said a police spokesman on Saturday.
