Flights in and out of Sweden’s Gothenburg Landvetter airport were disrupted on Thursday after drones were observed in its vicinity.
“The airspace over Landvetter is closed at the moment because of an indication of a suspected drone,” Susanne Norman, Chief Operations Officer of Swedish airport operator Swedavia, told AFP.
Air traffic was halted shortly after one or more drones were sighted at around 7 p.m. Kyiv time. At the time of writing on Thursday evening, planes continue to be grounded or diverted.
According to the Gothenburg-Landvetter website, the last plane to depart was a Wizz Air flight to Gdansk which took off at 7:18 p.m. Kyiv time.
24 flights are currently listed as cancelled, while several more are expected to face significant delays.
Since 19 drones entered Poland’s airspace via Belarus on Sept. 10, just four of which were shot down, Europe has been plagued by the unauthorized appearance of drones in its skies.
Thousands of passengers have had their journeys disrupted by the safety risk posed by drones spotted near airports across Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany.
Drones have also appeared near crucial infrastructure and sensitive military sites. On Friday and Saturday, they were again seen hovering above Belgium’s Kleine Brogel Air Base – which has long been thought to host US nuclear weapons.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the incidents. However, NATO officials reportedly view the aerial incursions as part of Russia’s hybrid warfare against Europe.