Germany’s second-busiest airport faces repeated shutdowns from systematic unauthorized drone operations.
The brief closure on Friday night follows Thursday’s overnight shutdown that cancelled 17 flights and disrupted 3,000 passengers before the airport reopened Friday morning.
The return of drone activity just hours after operations resumed indicates a persistent and potentially coordinated campaign targeting Europe’s critical aviation infrastructure.
UPDATE 22:48 CEST
Flight operations are resuming on runway 07.
UPDATE 23:10 CEST
Flight operations halted again until 2.00 AM local time.
UPDATE 23:45 CEST
Airport closed until 5.00 local time.
The fact that Munich Airport is experiencing drone incursions on consecutive nights represents a significant escalation from previous European incidents. While Copenhagen, Oslo, and other airports have faced multiple incidents over days or weeks, the immediate repeat targeting of Munich within 24 hours suggests either brazen persistence or systematic testing of German response capabilities.
Late in the evening of October 2, German air traffic control (DFS) restricted flight operations at Munich Airport from 10:18 p.m. and later suspended them altogether due to several drone sightings, with operations resuming at 5:00 a.m. on October 3. The renewed closure on Friday night indicates the threat has not been neutralized.
