Drone sighting halts air traffic at Berlin Brandenburg Airport for nearly two hours

Air traffic at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) was suspended for almost two hours on Friday evening following the sighting of a drone in the vicinity of the airport. A spokesperson for BER confirmed the disruption to AFP, noting that “a large number of flights” were diverted to other German airports as a result.

According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, more than 20 flights were affected. Among them was Brussels Airlines flight SN2591, operated by Airbus A319 OO-SSY, which had departed from Brussels shortly after 21:00 local time and was scheduled to land in Berlin at 22:25. Due to the incident, the aircraft diverted to Bremen instead.

Flight operations at BER were halted between 20:08 and 21:58 after a drone was observed near the airport. The sighting was later confirmed by police officers, but the drone could not be located afterwards.

Once airspace reopened, operations gradually resumed, though delays continued into the night. The diverted Brussels Airlines aircraft later departed from Bremen to Berlin, where it landed safely at 00:17.

In recent weeks, European authorities have reported a growing number of drone-related incidents near airports and military facilities. Similar sightings have been noted in Belgium, including around military bases in Elsenborn and Marche-en-Famenne. The origin of these drones remains unclear, though some officials have pointed to possible links with Russia.