Major airport runway shut down over bomb fears as flights cancelled and diverted
The runway at Leipzig/Halle Airport was forced to close overnight following the discovery of drone equipped with a ‘detonator’ which was parked near a Ukrainian aircraft
The runway at Leipzig/Halle Airport was shut down overnight(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
A major security operation forced the closure of a runway at a major airport overnight following the discovery of a drone equipped with a suspected detonator parked near a Ukrainian aircraft.
The unmanned aerial vehicle, which investigators are treating as a potential bomb, was spotted around midnight near a stationary Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane at the major DHL freight hub of Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Specialised ordnance teams were deployed to the site to inspect the device, forcing the immediate shutdown of the airport’s southern runway. German Federal Police deployed specialised robots to conduct a controlled detonation of the object, which reportedly carried an unidentified substance alongside its triggering mechanism.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted around midnight near a stationary Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane at the major DHL freight hub(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
While officials have not confirmed if the controlled explosion was completed, active inquiries into the breach remain ongoing.
Police in Lower Saxony have formally designated the event as a state security offence, explicitly noting that targeted sabotage has not been ruled out.
The security breach severely impacted regional flight operations throughout the night. Multiple arriving flights were diverted to alternative hubs – including a passenger flight from Mallorca that was rerouted to Nuremberg Airport – before normal operations resumed by morning.
Normal operations at the airport have now resumed(Image: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Now law enforcement agencies are looking into a separate, potentially related aerial disruption from the same night.
According to German newspaper Bild, a freight aircraft was forced to abandon its final descent and perform a go-around six kilometers from the airfield before striking an unknown airborne object at roughly 1,300 feet (400 meters).
The plane later landed safely at Hanover Airport, where technicians identified minor damage to its nose.
Meanwhile, glitch with Gatwick’s jet fuel supply has been fixed, according to the airport. An alert was sounded on Sunday, advising pilots using the West Sussex airport to “fuel from outstations (other airports) if possible” due to an “external fuel supply issue”.
The message, dispatched via the Notam (Notice to Aviation) system, was set to be in effect until 11pm on Monday. However, on Monday morning, a representative for Gatwick announced: “Following a temporary technical issue yesterday that impacted fuel supply to the airport, we are pleased to report that the issue has now been resolved.
“Fuel is flowing as expected, all airlines are operating as normal and passengers should continue to travel as planned. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
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