The drone sightings caused disruption to air traffic at Brussels Airport and Liège Airport on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Flights at both airports have since resumed, Belga reported.
Thursday’s incident was the second time in a week that air traffic at Brussels Airport had to be halted due to a drone. Similar incidents have occurred in other parts of Europe, including Copenhagen, Oslo, Aalborg and Munich.
As a precautionary measure, flights were suspended for half an hour starting at around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday after the drone was spotted at Brussels Airport, a spokesman said. The suspension is standard procedure in the event of a “serious sighting,” said air traffic controller Skeyes. Eight outbound and 22 inbound flights were scheduled to depart from the airport when the disruption occurred.
At Liege Airport, air traffic was also suspended from just before 10:00 p.m. to 11:20 p.m. on Thursday due to a drone sighting. Standard procedures were followed there as well. Air traffic at Liege Airport was disrupted again on Friday morning due to the presence of a drone. The disruption began just before 7:00 a.m. and lasted for about an hour.
The drone was reportedly spotted near the airport’s FedEx facility, the first daytime sighting since drones began appearing over airports, military bases and other sensitive locations.
Belgium called an emergency meeting of its National Security Council on Thursday to discuss the threat posed by drones after recent sightings over military areas and Brussels airports. Before the meeting, Defense Minister Theo Francken said he wanted to make the country’s National Center for Airspace Security operational as soon as possible and increase its capacity to combat drones.
