COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Airports in western Denmark reopened early on Thursday after being shut for hours when unidentified drones flew into their airspace overnight, the second such security incident in the Nordic country this week.
Billund airport, Denmark’s second biggest, was closed for an hour, and Aalborg, used for commercial and military flights, was closed for three hours due to drone incursions late on Wednesday, Danish police said.
Drones had also been observed near airports in Esbjerg and Sonderborg, as well as Skrydstrup airbase, home to some of Denmark’s F-16 and F-35 fighter jets. All five are located on the Jutland peninsula in western Denmark.
Resident Morten Skov told Reuters he saw green blinking lights coming from west of Aalborg airport, which “stood still right over” the facility. In a video shared with Reuters by Skov, light is seen moving away from the airport toward the west.
Danish national police said the drones followed a similar pattern to ones that had halted flights at Copenhagen airport late on Monday and early Tuesday.
It described that as the most serious “attack” yet on its critical infrastructure and linked it to a series of suspected Russian drone incursions and other disruptions across Europe, without giving evidence.
Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, denied any involvement by his country in the Copenhagen incident.
Denmark’s defence minister and justice minister are scheduled to hold a press briefing at 0700 GMT.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Stine Jacobsen, Anna Ringström and Terje Solsvik; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
