Drone alert temporarily shuts Danish airport

The Aalborg airport in northern Denmark closed for several hours late Sunday after drones were reported in nearby airspace, airport authorities said, the latest in a spate of unexplained drone flights across Europe.

"The airport was closed for landings and take-offs between 9:30 pm and 11:15 pm (2030 and 2215 GMT) last night after suspicious drone activity," Jan Eliassen, a spokesman for Danish air traffic control company Naviair, told AFP on Monday.

Four flights were affected by the closure, he said.

The incident occurred nearly two months after mysterious drone flights across Denmark led to a one-week ban on civilian drone flights, in order to ensure security during two European summits held in Copenhagen on October 1 and 2.

At the end of September, unidentified drone flights began just days after Denmark announced that it would acquire long-range precision weapons for the first time, due to the threat posed by Russia "for the years to come".

Danish investigators have so far failed to identify those responsible for the drone flights over Denmark, but Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has pointed the finger at Russia.

"There is one main country that poses a threat to Europe's security, and it is Russia," she said.

Following Sunday's incident, North Jutland police wrote on X that they had been "informed that one or more drones may have been spotted around Aalborg airport".

"We are investigating intensively in the area. At the moment, we have no further information and therefore cannot confirm the veracity of the situation," police said.