MUNICH Airport was plunged into chaos after mystery drones forced both runways to close – stranding thousands of passengers just as the city gears up for the final weekend of Oktoberfest.
German police on Thursday confirmed “several drones” were spotted hovering near the travel hub from around 9.30pm, with sightings later over the airfield itself.
GettyMunich Airport was closed due to multiple drone sightings near and over the airfield[/caption]
AlamyThe closure stranded thousands of passengers as Oktoberfest’s final weekend approaches[/caption]
AlamyThe Oktoberfest finale takes place this Sunday[/caption]
Officers scrambled to track the devices but were unable to identify them or their operators, Bild reported.
By 10.30pm last night, flights were halted and the airport shut down, with 17 departures cancelled.
Fifteen incoming flights had to be diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt.
And around 3,000 passengers were left sleeping on camp beds with snacks and drinks handed out overnight, according to airport officials.
Federal police said they could not yet give details on the “type and size” of the drones.
Both runways are expected to reopen Friday, but officials have not confirmed when full operations will resume.
The disruption comes at the worst possible moment for Munich’s world-famous Oktoberfest.
Millions of visitors typically pour into the Bavarian capital for the beer-soaked festivities, and many were set to arrive Thursday night.
The festival was already rattled this week by a bomb threat and a deadly house explosion.
Officials were investigating a possible Antifa link – the extremist far-left “Anti-fascist” movement – after a post titled “Antifa means attack” was published that morning.
Oktoberfest was forced to delay opening after cops discovered a letter threatening the festival while investigating a booby-trapped house fire that killed one man.
Special forces defused explosives and combed the festival grounds for hours before allowing crowds back in.
Germany has been on edge over unexplained drone activity.
Just last week, unidentified aircraft buzzed a power plant, a university hospital and a shipyard in Schleswig-Holstein, according to a German news outlet Der Spiegel.
Authorities have urged calm, with Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt saying on Monday: “I will explicitly say that not every drone controlled by foreign powers is automatically a threat either.”
But he admitted the sightings could be “provocation”.
EPAEmergency services and police at the scene after explosive devices were found in a burning house in Munich earlier this week[/caption]
APA police officer inspects a burned car after the fire in Munich[/caption]
AlamyOktoberfest had to delay opening days ago after the bomb scare[/caption]
The German alerts follow a wave of drone incidents across Nato airspace.
In Denmark, Copenhagen Airport was shut down for hours last weekend and Aalborg Airport closed days later after mystery drones swarmed their runways.
Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen warned of a “professional actor” behind what he called a “hybrid attack designed to create fear.”
And last month, airports across Europe — including Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin — were also hammered by crippling cyberattacks, fuelling fears of a coordinated hybrid assault.
Security expert Anthony Glees told The Sun: “Without doubt, the Russians are behind these attacks on airports in London, Berlin and Brussels.
“No one can doubt that Vladimir Putin’s strategic planners are the beneficiaries here because they have been able to demonstrate they can attack our cyberspace with impunity and at will.”
European leaders meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday accused Russia of testing Western defences.
“It is the pattern we need to observe… essentially a hybrid war against Europe,” Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said.
Finland’s Petteri Orpo backed a proposed “drone wall” to protect EU skies.
Meanwhile, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned: “Russia tries to test us… we will not let this happen.”
Moscow has denied involvement.
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GettyAs many as 17 flights were cancelled last night[/caption]