Germany's Munich Airport shut after drone sightings; 17 flights grounded

Munich Airport in Germany was closed for almost seven hours last night after several drones were sighted in its airspace the latest European aviation hub to shutter over unexplained drone flights CNN reportedThe airport on Thursday said that a total of 17 flights were grounded shortly after 10 pm local time affecting nearly 3000 passengers In addition 15 arriving flights were diverted to the German cities of Stuttgart Nuremberg and Frankfurt as well as Vienna in neighbouring Austria the statement saidFlight tracking website Flightradar showed several planes circling the airport at around 11pm local time before heading to other destinationsThe airport reopened at 5 am local time when flight arrivals and departures were deemed safe a call handler fielding passenger enquiries told CNNPoland briefly closed part of its airspace southeast of the capital Warsaw on Sunday citing unplanned military activity as Russia launched a new wave of strikes on Ukraine Al Jazeera reported The Polish armed forces said aircraft were scrambled to ensure the security of its skies It described the actions as preventive and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizensAs per CNN a spate of sightings over several airports in Denmark last week saw tens of thousands of passengers impacted Denmark later banned all civil drone flights in its airspace as it prepared to host a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen this week to discuss support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and bolstering European securityRussia has denied any involvement in the drone sightingsMeanwhile Russina President Putin addressing a summit in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Thursday dismissed suggestions he ordered drones to Denmark I wont do it again I wont do it again not to France or Denmark or Copenhagen Putin saidEarlier this month Polish and NATO forces intercepted Russian drones that entered Polish airspace marking their first direct military engagement with Moscow since the 2022 invasion Al Jazeera reportedRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned NATO and the European Union that any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday Lavrov said Moscow had no intention of attacking the West but was prepared to respond if provokedMeanwhile NATO announced on Saturday that it is upgrading its mission in the Baltic Sea with an air defence frigate and other assets including intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance platforms in response to drone incursions in DenmarkAccording to Al Jazeera unidentified drones were seen near Danish military installations overnight on Saturday prompting authorities to label the incidents as hybrid attacksDanish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date Copenhagen airport the busiest in the Nordic region was forced to close temporarily while five smaller Danish airports both civilian and military were also shut for short periods in the following days In neighbouring Norway police confirmed they were investigating possible drone sightings near Oerland air force base the central hub for the countrys F35 jetsIn Germany Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said a drone swarm was spotted over SchleswigHolstein adding that he wants to revise air safety laws to allow the armed forces to shoot down drones Al Jazeera reportedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever