The Aalborg airport, north of Denmark, has remained closed for several hours in the early hours of Thursday when the presence of drones is detected in its airspace. This is the third incident of this type that is recorded in Europe this week, after Monday, those of Copenhagen and Oslo interrupted operations for the same cause.
“Until we have the controlled situation and the drones have been neutralized, no plane to take off,” Commissioner Jesper Bojgaard confirmed in a press conference. The decision has forced to divert three flights and has caused cancellations four connections. Eurocontrol has declared the “zero” operations rate at Aalborg airport until the early hours of the morning.
The closure also affects the Norwegian armed forces, since Aalborg works as a military base. The National Police said the drones followed a “similar pattern” to that observed in Copenhagen and warned that they could be linked incidents. At the same time, sightings were notified around other Jutland airfields, such as Esbjerg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup, this last headquarters of F-16 and F-35 fighters.
The authorities have opened an investigation together with the intelligence services and with the support of the military forces. “It is too early to say what is the objective of the drones and who is behind,” said a police spokesman.
A military base in the spotlight
The precedent in Copenhagen had already been qualified by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as “the most serious attack against Danish critical infrastructures to date.” The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, pointed directly to Russia, but the Kremlin rejected the accusations both for what happened in Denmark and in Norway.
“Making unfounded accusations periodically leads them not to be taken seriously,” replied spokesman Dmitri Peskov, asked about Copenhagen and Oslo closures. Moscow insisted that a country “that assumes a serious position should not make repeated unfounded accusations.” From NATO they requested caution and stressed that it is still “too soon” to attribute responsibilities. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, went further and framed what happened in a “persistent response pattern on our borders.”
Denmark is not the only affected country. In Norway, Oslo airport had to close for three hours on Monday night after drone sighting, an episode that is also under investigation. Danish and Norwegian intelligence services collaborate closely, although for now no connection between the cases has been established.
