Drone find at German airport leads to flight disruption. A runway is still closed

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BERLIN (AP) — A drone sighting and the discovery of a suspicious object at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport led to flight disruption during the night, and one runway remained closed on Wednesday, authorities said.

Several flights, including one passenger plane, were diverted to other airports after the sighting of a flying object near the airport shortly before midnight, police said, and an anti-explosives robot was deployed to check an object near the airport's south runway. They didn't elaborate.

Flights using the other runway resumed shortly before 2 a.m., but the south runway remained closed Wednesday morning.

German Interior Ministry spokesperson Leonard Kaminski said that a drone was found at the airport but declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation. He wouldn't comment on German media reports that it was spotted near a Ukrainian plane and that possible explosives and a detonator were found attached to it.

He said a plane that was supposed to land at Leipzig/Halle broke off its approach, apparently collided with something and then landed at another German airport, Hannover.

The airport is a major cargo hub and the planes located there include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.

In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics center at the airport and set fire to a freight container, part of a plot that Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind. The flight it was supposed to take was delayed.

Asked whether he sees any direct connection to the overnight incident, Kaminski said he doesn’t at this point.