Munich airport reopens after second drone-related closure in 24 hours; passengers disrupted; Germany to ramp up defence

's reopened Saturday morning after authorities suspended operations for the second time in less than 24 hours.

The closure had happened due to suspected drone sightings, the airport, which is one of Germany's largest, said in a statement, reported news agency AP. Following unusual drone overflights in the airspace of EU member nations, the closures are the most recent.



Flights at the airport, one of Germany's busiest, began gradually resuming from 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), though delays were expected throughout the day, according to a notice posted on their website. The overnight closure Friday into Saturday affected around 6,500 passengers.

The previous closure, Thursday night into Friday, grounded at least 17 flights and impacted nearly 3,000 passengers. The passengers were urged to check the status of their flights before travelling to Munich Airport, which said it expects some disruptions to continue throughout the day, reported BBC.

Authorities have not been able to identify the operators of the drones or their point of origin. The incidents are part of a recent spate of mysterious drone overflights over airports and critical infrastructure in several European countries, including Belgium, where drones were spotted above the Elsenborn military site near the German border, and Norway, where flights in Oslo were disrupted late last month.

German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said he would discuss the drone incursions and a "drone detection and defense plan" with European counterparts at a meeting in Munich this weekend. "We are in a race between drone threat and drone defense. We want to and must win this race," he said while attending a ceremony in Saarbrücken marking the 35th anniversary of Germany's reunification, alongside chancellor and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Authorities in Germany and other European nations have expressed concerns that the drone flights could be linked to Russia, though experts note that any individual or group with access to drones could be responsible. Russian officials have denied involvement in recent European drone incidents.

This incident comes days after Germany's defense minister Boris Pistorius admitted to DW ,"We're really behind when it comes to defending against drones," Uncertainty is high after Russian drones invaded the airspace of several Nato countries in recent weeks. Suspected Russian drones have even been supposedly spotted over Germany. On the German television channel ZDF, Pistorius assured viewers that everything was being done "to make up for this shortcoming."

The German armed forces have already started training exercises focused on both deploying drones and defending against them, reported DW.