Germany's Munich airport said early on Friday that drone sightings on Thursday evening had forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers.
Another 15 arriving flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt, the airport said in a statement, marking the latest drone disruption to European aviation after sightings temporarily shut airports in Denmark and Norway last week.
German air traffic control officials restricted flight operations at Munich airport from 10:18 p.m. (2018 GMT) on Thursday and later suspended them altogether due to several drone sightings, the airport added.
The city was already placed on edge this week when its popular Oktoberfest was closed temporarily due to a bomb threat and the discovery of explosives in a residential building in the north of the city.
Denmark has stopped short of saying who it believes is responsible for the incidents in its airspace last week, which disrupted air traffic at multiple airports, but Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has suggested it could be Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin joked on Thursday that he would not fly drones over Denmark anymore, but Moscow has denied responsibility for the incidents.
Local police have investigated the incident, but were unable to identify either the drones or their owners, according to Bild.
The report added that an hour later, the drones returned, this time over the airport grounds itself, confirmed Federal Police spokesperson Stefan Bayer.
Officials have not been able to determine who is behind the drone flights.
A police helicopter was also deployed to track down the drones, according German outlet Die Welt.
Similar incidents in Norway, Denmark
In September, similar incidents caused disruption at Scandinavian airports.Drone sightings halted all take-offs and landings for nearly four hours at Copenhagen Airport on September 23.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen linked the incident to a series of suspected Russian drone incursions and other disruptions across Europe
Norway's Oslo Airport also shut its airspace due to a drone sighting.
The following day, on September 24, Denmark's Aalborg Airport was closed due to drones in its airspace.
The event also affected Denmark's military forces, as Aalborg serves as a base of operations for the Danish Air Force.
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