Drone sightings overnight at Germany’s Munich airport led to the cancellation and diversion of dozens of flights on the eve of a national holiday, leaving nearly 3,000 passengers stranded and leading politicians to promise tough new measures allowing for drones to be shot down.
The Munich airport disruption was the latest in a series of similar incidents that have rattled European aviation, raising concerns about deniable hybrid attacks on Ukraine’s European allies, possibly directed by Russia. The Kremlin has indeed denied any involvement in the incidents.
The airport said several drone sightings late on Thursday evening had forced air traffic control to suspend operations.
“Our police must get the power to shoot drones down,” said Markus Soeder, premier of Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital, on social media, promising state-level emergency legislation to allow this. “We need sovereignty over our airspace.”
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