Drone sighting halts flights at Berlin airport for nearly two hours

Flights at Berlin Brandenburg Airport were halted for nearly two hours after a drone was spotted late Friday evening. Police confirmed the sighting but couldn’t find the drone. The incident comes amid rising drone activity across European airspace

Berlin: A late evening drone sighting at Berlin’s airport suspended flights for nearly two hours, according to the news agency dpa, before air travel returned to normal in the German capital on Saturday morning.

Flights were suspended between 8:08 pm and 9:58 pm local time at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the news report cited the airport. Local police told the Tagesspiegel newspaper that a witness reported seeing a drone. Police confirmed the sighting but did not find the drone. Representatives for the airport and police did not immediately return requests for comment.

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Europe is on high alert after drone intrusions into NATO’s airspace reached an unprecedented scale in September. Some European officials described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia. Last month, Munich Airport was closed twice in less than 24 hours because of drone sightings.