Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Zaventem Airport, the main airport of the capital city of Belgium, is expected to return to normal operations on Wednesday after all departing and arriving flights were temporarily halted earlier in the evening following the sighting of a drone above the international airport.
Around 400-500 passengers had to spend the night at Zaventem airport because of the sightings, Brussels Airport spokesman Ariane Goossens said.
“The situation will return to normal during the day,”
as flights restart, she said.
How did the drone sightings disrupt Belgium’s airspace operations?
The airspace over Brussels Zaventem Airport was shut down as a result of a reported drone flying over the airfield, according to the public service broadcaster VRT on Tuesday night. Brussels Zaventem Airport reopened its airspace for a brief period before it closed again after a second sighting of a drone.
Liège Airport, where planes that couldn’t land at Brussels Airport were initially redirected to, also closed following a separate drone sighting incident, the public service broadcaster added.
Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for Skeyes, the public organisation managing Belgium’s civil airspace, stated that the first sighting of a drone was at approximately 8:00 PM local time, resulting in flights being diverted to other airports such as Ostend-Bruges and Charleroi Brussels South.
What other drone incident occurred recently near the Belgian military bases?
Moreover, during the weekend, Belgian authorities made public the drone activity that took place above the Kleine-Brogel military base, which is where a large number of US nuclear weapons are reported to be stored. The Belgian military intelligence agency stated that it was investigating the drone sightings.
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said that an organised operation seemed to be conducted by “Professionals”.
“They are trying to intimidate Belgium,”
said Francken to local media. “This is destabilisation.”
How have NATO and the EU responded to airspace violations?
NATO and the European Union have maintained a heightened state of alert in recent weeks over a series of airspace violations, presumed to involve aircraft from Russia.
At the end of September, NATO issued a warning to Moscow that it would use “all means possible” to protect its airspace from further violations after Russian drones were shot down over Poland and Estonia reported a violation by Russian fighters.
The event of 10 September in Poland was the first time that NATO and Russia directly engaged, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in early 2022. Authorities in Estonia claimed that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets overflew their airspace for 12 minutes on Friday without authorisation, a claim the Kremlin denied.
The incidents caused significant alarm from leaders throughout Europe and raised questions about the alliance’s readiness to respond to Russian aggression.
