Flights halted at Brussels airport again after possible drone sighting

This incident comes after a wave of similar disruptions earlier this month

A LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw was diverted away from Brussels airport to Liège (FlightRadar)

Brussels airport was forced to halt flights on Wednesday after a suspected drone sighting, only days after a similar incident was reported.

The airport told The Independent that air traffic was suspended for half an hour on Wednesday, 12 November between 10.50pm and 11.20pm.

The suspension at Belgium’s main air base was a precautionary measure following reports of a possible drone.

While no departing flights were scheduled after 10pm, there were still planes arriving late in the evening.

A Tui flight from Gran Canaria and a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw were diverted to Liege, 55 miles away.

The diverted passenger planes were able to return to Brussels airport shortly afterwards, but caused delays and disruption to passengers’ journeys.

A DHL cargo plane from Toulouse was also diverted to Cologne, but did not continue its journey.

Simon Calder, travel correspondent at The Independent, said: “Even though only a few hundred passengers were affected by the latest drone scare at Brussels, repeated diversions will alarm travellers and airlines alike.

“Unless the authorities can get a grip on such disruption, passengers may switch to other airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris CDG that don’t seem to have such problems.”

After a string of drone-related incidents at Brussels airport, the head of Britain’s armed forces said the UK had agreed to “deploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them.”

“We don’t know — and the Belgians don’t yet know — the source of those drones, but we will help them by providing our kit and capability, which has already started to deploy to help Belgium,” Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton told the BBC.

The airport had to halt its flight operations numerous times earlier this month due to suspected drone sightings.

Drone-related disruptions are not limited to Brussels, however, as many airports across Europe have reported an uptick.

Flights at popular Canary Islands holiday destination Fuerteventura were temporarily grounded after a suspected drone flew too close to the airport in September and October.

Dozens of flights were also cancelled or diverted at Munich airport in October, leaving almost 3,000 passengers stranded.

After reopening, the airport had to shut down for the second time in 24 hours due to another suspected drone sighting, impacting a further 6,500 passengers.

This followed similar incidents in Denmark and Norway in late September, as major aviation hubs Copenhagen Airport and Oslo Airport had to close for a short time.

Read more: UK military to help Belgium combat suspected Russian drone flights