Germany shuts down Munich Airport due to wave of drone sightings, several flights disrupted

In a latest development, Germany's Munich airport early on Friday (Oct 3) said that drone sightings on Thursday evening had forced air traffic control to suspend operations. This has led to the cancellation of 17 flights, disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers. The Munich Airport in a statement said that another 15 arriving flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt.

The incident follows similar disruptions in Denmark and Norway last week. While European countries accuses Russia of these drone incursions, Moscow denies the claims. The incident comes less than a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin joked that he would not fly drones over Denmark anymore. He also slammed European countries for targeting Russia and taunted NATO.

The Munich airport in its statement also added that German air traffic control officials restricted flight operations at Munich airport from 10:18 p.m. (2018 GMT) on Thursday and later suspended them altogether due to several drone sightings. The city was already placed on edge this week when its popular Oktoberfest was closed temporarily due to a bomb threat and the discovery of explosives in a residential building in the north of the city. European Union leaders backed plans on Wednesday to bolster the bloc's defences against Russian drones.