Drone sightings disrupt flights as several airports shut down in Belgium

Seceral airports in Belgium were shut after drones were reportedly seen flying around, disrupting flight services with the country’s busiest airports in Brussels suspending flights for several hours.

Air traffic in the capital city was hit by drone sightings at 8 pm local time on Tuesday, following which the airport was reopened temporarily before it was shut again. Liege Airport has also been impacted, and the timeline for flight resumptions remains uncertain. Local media have additionally reported drone sightings near the Kleine-Brogel and Florennes military airbases.

“There are currently no departing or arriving flights at Brussels Airport due to drone sightings around the airport. We monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as soon as we have more information,” Brussel airport authorities said in a statement.

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Drone sightings rampant in Europe

The incident was the latest in a series of incidents of mysterious drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites in several European Union member countries.

Two weeks ago, Lithuania closed two of its biggest airports and shut crossings on its border with Belarus after a mysterious helium balloon drifted into its territory.

Last month, Denmark closed several of its airports after drones were sighted in its airspace, the second such incident reported in the Nordic country in October. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that the drone incursions were done professionally, adding that they looked systematic and hybrid in nature.

What is the EU doing?

European Union leaders are discussing setting up a “drone wall” of defences after high-profile air incursions by Russia.

The first call for the project came last month from EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in the hours after a swarm of Russian drones breached Poland’s airspace.

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While details were scant, the initial plan appeared clearly focused on helping to shore up the EU’s eastern frontier from the threat from Moscow.

The EU has said it wants to work with Ukraine, which has developed deep expertise in tackling Russian drones after almost four years of war.

“We are ready to share this experience with our partners,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said.