KLM flight to Aalborg diverted over drones in Danish airspace

Denmark closed the Aalborg Airport for over three hours on Wednesday due to unidentified drones in the airspace. Three flights to the Danish city, including a KLM flight from Amsterdam, had to be diverted. The other two flights were from Copenhagen, NOS reports.

The KLM flight diverted to Billund Airport, and the passengers were transported to Aalborg by bus. According to Denmark, passengers were not in danger, but “as long as drones are still flying over the airport, no aircraft will take off.”

Besides Aalborg, the Danish police also received reports of drones flying over Esbjerg, Sønderborg, and Skrydstrup Air Base. The police were unable to take the drones down. The number of drones and their origin are unknown.

This is the second time this week that Denmark has had to close an airport due to drones. On Monday, the local authorities closed the airport in Copenhagen for hours after several drones were spotted in the area. A few hours later, the Oslo Airport in Norway closed for the same reason.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen later called the drones an assault on the airport. “This is the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

The European Commission said it suspected Russian involvement. Earlier this month, NATO aircraft shot down several Russian drones in Poland. Russian fighter jets flew over Estonia last week.

NATO spoke of “a pattern of increasingly irresponsible behavior” from Russia after the airspace violation. The Dutch intelligence services MIVD and AIVD recently issued a similar warning, urging the Nehterlands to retaliate more often in the “hybrid war” Russia is conducting on our country.