German air traffic control suspended all flights at Frankfurt Airport due to drone activity. Frankfurt is the fourth-busiest airport in Europe, after London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Amsterdam, with about 180,000 passengers a day.
A pilot reported seeing a drone over the southern part of the airport at about 11:15 a.m. Police searched the area with the support of a helicopter. For nearly two hours, no flights were able to land or take off. The drone disruption caused several flight delays, cancellations, and reroutes.
"The state and federal police are working together to provide information and avert danger," Deutsche Flugsicherung, Germany's air traffic control, tweeted late Monday morning.
Am #Flughafen #Frankfurt wurde eine #Drohne gesichtet. Die DFS @dfs_de erteilt deshalb zurzeit keine Start- und Landeerlaubnisse. Landes- und #Bundespolizei sind gemeinsam zur Aufklärung und Gefahrenabwehr im Einsatz. Es kann zu Verzögerungen und Flugverspätungen kommen. pic.twitter.com/MHei75oStc
— Bundespolizei Flughafen Frankfurt am Main (@bpol_air_fra) March 2, 2020
Drone activity near German airports has continued to be a problem. Since 2017, they have witnessed a record numbers of drone sightings near runways and within airport perimeters.
Drone incursions near airports continue to highlight the issue of drones interfering with commercial air traffic and the need to address security gaps at airports.