Flights at Liège Airport, one of Europe’s largest cargo hubs, were suspended twice between Thursday night and Friday morning after drones were reported in the vicinity, the airport said.
Operations were halted between 21:00 on 6 November and 01:00 on 7 November, and again from 07:00 to 08:00 on Friday before normal service resumed. The interruptions followed a week of wider disruption to Belgian air traffic linked to unexplained drone activity.
The latest closures at Liège came after Belgium’s main international gateway, Brussels Airport, was temporarily shut on Tuesday night due to drone sightings, leading to significant knock-on effects for passengers. The operator reported dozens of cancellations and diversions; according to figures released mid-week, 41 flights were cancelled and 24 were diverted, with several hundred travellers accommodated overnight. It was the first time Brussels Airport had been closed by drone activity.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever convened emergency talks of the National Security Council on Thursday as reports of drones near sensitive sites continued. Among the locations drawing attention is the Kleine-Brogel air base in Limburg province, widely believed to host U.S. nuclear weapons. Belgian defence officials say drones were detected near the facility over the weekend and again mid-week. Defence Minister Theo Francken has described some of the flights as consistent with an organised intelligence-gathering operation rather than amateur activity.
Following the security meeting, ministers confirmed plans to accelerate airspace monitoring upgrades. Francken said Belgium’s National Airspace Security Centre at the Beauvechain air base would be fully operational by 1 January 2026, and that authorities would examine the rapid acquisition of counter-drone equipment. Interim measures could include jamming or, where feasible, forcing down suspect drones.
Belgium’s aviation authority and airport operators have not attributed the incursions to any state or group. NATO, which maintains its political headquarters in Brussels and its military HQ at Mons, has not publicly disclosed any drone sightings near alliance facilities. However, officials across Europe have reported an uptick in drone-related incidents that have prompted precautionary shutdowns at airports and raised concerns about surveillance of critical infrastructure.
The string of Belgian incidents forms part of a broader pattern observed in recent months. Airports in Germany and elsewhere have temporarily suspended operations after suspected drone sightings, while national authorities have moved to clarify legal frameworks for neutralising unmanned aircraft near civilian areas. In Belgium, Francken has pointed to gaps in current rules that complicate military intervention against drones over populated zones, and has called for dedicated counter-UAS systems to be deployed.
Security analysts note that Belgium’s role as host to EU institutions, NATO bodies and major financial market infrastructure makes it unusually sensitive to aerial incursions. The country is also the legal seat of Euroclear, the world’s largest securities settlement house, which holds tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian sovereign assets. Several EU member states support using future proceeds from those assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine. Belgian officials have warned that any move to seize the funds outright could trigger retaliation. EU leaders are expected to revisit the matter at a Brussels summit next month.
At Liège, which handles substantial overnight freight traffic for global express operators, the timing of the drone sightings caused particular disruption to cargo schedules given the concentration of late-evening and early-morning movements. Belgian media reported a similar brief suspension at nearby Bierset earlier in the week, with standard safety procedures enacted until the airspace was cleared. The airport has resumed normal operations but remains on heightened alert in line with national guidance.
Brussels Airport said it had coordinated with air traffic control and police units during Tuesday’s shutdown, and apologised for the impact on passengers while emphasising that safety considerations take precedence when drones are detected. The operator provided camp beds, water and snacks for stranded travellers and advised passengers to check flight information before travelling to the airport while investigations continue.
Belgian authorities have declined to speculate publicly on attribution. Some European officials have linked recent drone activity to wider geopolitical tensions and so-called hybrid tactics, but there has been no formal assignment of responsibility in the Belgian cases to date. The federal government has indicated that it will report back on immediate mitigation steps and on the schedule for deploying the Beauvechain monitoring centre. For now, both Liège and Brussels are operating normally, with contingency arrangements in place should further sightings occur.
