Drones Disrupt Danish Airports, Including Base for F-35 Jets

Aalborg Airport in northern Denmark was shut down early Thursday, Sept. 25, after unidentified drones were spotted overhead, North Jutland Police reported.

The first sightings occurred around midnight.

“Drones have been spotted near Aalborg Airport, the airspace is closed. Police are on the scene, investigating,” police said on X.

An airport spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the facility was closed but declined to comment on the number of drones involved. The disruption affected the schedules of four flights, including two SAS aircraft, one Norwegian, and one KLM.

Local media later reported additional drone activity near Esbjerg, Sønderborg, and Skridstrup airports. The Skridstrup base houses Denmark’s F-16 and F-35 fighter jets.

Authorities later said the drones had left Aalborg’s airspace, though an investigation is ongoing.

The incident follows a string of drone disruptions in Scandinavia. On Sept. 22, Copenhagen Airport was shut down for nearly four hours after two to three drones were seen in the area. Police described the drones’ operator as “competent.”

Just hours later, drones also disrupted flights at Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport in Norway.

The Kremlin denied involvement in drone incidents that disrupted air traffic in Oslo and Copenhagen early Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed accusations as “baseless,” saying: “Frankly, making unfounded accusations over and over again only leads to such statements no longer being taken seriously.”

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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she could “not rule out” Russia’s involvement, calling it “the most serious attack on critical Danish infrastructure to date.”

She added: “It is clear that this fits in with the developments we have seen recently with other drone attacks, violations of airspace and cyber attacks on European airports.”

The incidents come after a cyberattack last week disrupted several European airports. They also echo earlier violations of NATO airspace, including 19 drones over Poland on Sept. 10 and three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entering Estonian airspace Friday.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called the latter “part of a broader pattern of escalation by Russia, both regionally and globally.” Moscow dismissed Estonia’s claims as “empty” and “a continuation of the country’s utterly unstoppable policy of escalating tensions.”