Luxembourg Airport drones disrupt 1,800 passengers

Drone sightings near and over Luxembourg Airport forced a temporary suspension of flight operations overnight into Saturday, affecting more than 1,800 passengers and diverting 17 inbound flights, flag-carrier Luxair said.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden said authorities were investigating and cooperating with NATO allies. He said potentially bigger drones had been observed in the country's airspace over the past few days, but it was too early to say where they had come from.

The airport said operations were briefly suspended as a precaution after drones were detected flying near and over the airport without authorisation. It said the measure was taken to protect passengers, airline crews, airport personnel and aircraft.

Luxair said the diverted flights were sent to other airports including Brussels, Paris and Frankfurt. The airline said operations resumed on Saturday, but further disruption and knock-on effects were expected.

Frieden spoke after an emergency meeting with Luxembourg's defence and interior ministers. He said the drone sightings were new for Luxembourg but not completely new for neighbouring countries.

European allies of Ukraine have raised concern about hybrid attacks linked to Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Frieden did not identify the origin of the drones seen over Luxembourg.