All air traffic at Copenhagen Airport was halted on Monday evening following reports of multiple drones in the vicinity of the airfield, according to Copenhagen Police.
In a post on X, police said the airport was “closed for take-off and landing” after “2–3 large drones” were observed, adding that the duration of the disruption was unknown.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported that operations were suspended at 20:26 local time. The service initially noted diversions to alternate airports as aircraft either held, returned to origin, or diverted.
Reuters cited an airport spokesperson confirming that all traffic had been halted, while declining to provide further operational detail during the ongoing police response. The news agency also reported that drone sightings prompted the immediate suspension of departures and arrivals.
Copenhagen Airport is the busiest hub in the Nordic region, handling just under 30 million passengers in 2024, and serves as a primary gateway for Denmark and southern Sweden. Any prolonged shutdown therefore has significant knock-on effects for carriers and connecting passengers across Scandinavia and beyond.
By late evening, multiple Scandinavian outlets reported widespread disruption, including diversions to Billund and airports in Norway, Sweden and Germany. While individual diversion tallies varied as the situation evolved, live-tracking data showed more than a dozen diversions within the first hours of the closure. Authorities had not provided a timeline for resuming normal operations at the time of reporting.
Copenhagen Police said efforts were under way to identify the drones and their operators. No information was released on the type of drones involved, their launch points, or any possible motive. Police indicated that the closure would remain in effect until the airspace could be confirmed clear for safe use.
The incident follows earlier disruptions at the airport linked to drone activity over the past year. In December 2024, Danish media reported arrests after drones were sighted over the airport, briefly interrupting traffic. In a separate event in February 2025, operations were halted for roughly two hours following drone activity before flights resumed around midnight. While those cases were resolved without reported injuries, they underscored the operational sensitivity of commercial airspace to unauthorised unmanned aircraft.
Under Danish and EU rules, flying drones near airports is tightly restricted. National guidance specifies a 5 km standoff from public airports, alongside broader “UAS geographical zones” in which drone operations are generally prohibited without explicit authorisation from the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority. These restrictions are intended to protect critical infrastructure and maintain separation from manned aviation.
Airlines and the airport operator typically implement standard diversion and delay protocols during such closures, prioritising aircraft already airborne and coordinating with air traffic control to reroute traffic to nearby fields with available capacity. Passengers on affected flights are usually rebooked or accommodated once operations restart. As of late evening, Copenhagen Airport and carriers had not issued comprehensive estimates of delays or cancellations arising from the suspension announced at 20:26 CEST.
Copenhagen Airport’s role as a major transfer hub for Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and other carriers means even short closures can create residual disruption once operations resume, as aircraft and crew are displaced from their scheduled rotations. The scale of the impact typically depends on the duration of the airspace restriction and the availability of nearby diversion airports such as Billund, Gothenburg and Berlin.
Authorities have urged compliance with established drone regulations and reminded operators that unauthorised flights near airports may lead to enforcement action. Investigations into Monday’s incident remain active. Further updates are expected from Copenhagen Police and the airport operator as the situation develops.
