Germany’s main air hub at Frankfurt shuts down on drone sighting
Frankfurt Airport resumed normal operations shortly after midday on Monday after a 90-minute shutdown prompted by drone sightings, a spokesman for the operating company reported.
“No take-offs or landings were cleared after the first sighting at 11:23 a.m (1023 GMT) until the all-clear was given at around 1 p.m,’’ the Fraport spokesperson said.
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The air traffic control authority (DFS) halted flights after a pilot sighted the drone over the southern part of the airport.
Subsequent sightings followed. Police sent up a helicopter to search for the drone.
“The airport had to shut down flights for an hour in January, directing over 20 planes to other airports after a drone was sighted,’’ Fraport reported on Feb. 8.
There have been repeated drone incidents at German airports, although the number has declined recently.
In 2019, the DFS recorded 125 delays, 33 fewer than in 2018.
Frankfurt, Germany’s main air hub, was worst affected, with 28 drone sightings, followed by Berlin Tegel at 15, Munich at 15 and Dusseldorf at 12.
A single sighting by a pilot is assessed as a delay.
Closing an entire airport is less frequent and only occurs when drones are seen on the airport grounds and are a danger to operations.
According to the DFS, this occurred twice in 2019 at Frankfurt, and once each at Stuttgart and Berlin Tegel.
German law requires drone flights to be no less than 1.5 kilometres from an airport.
