Flight operations at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport, one of Europe's major cargo hubs, were disrupted overnight after a flying object was reported near the airport and another suspicious object was discovered close to a runway, police said.


Several flights, including a passenger aircraft, were diverted to alternative airports after the flying object was spotted shortly before midnight, Euronews reports.


Police spokesperson Olaf Hoppe told Euronews that, at the same time the object was sighted, another suspicious object was found near the airport's southern runway and examined by Germany's federal police. Hoppe declined to confirm whether the flying object was a drone.


Authorities deployed a bomb disposal robot to inspect the object found near the southern runway but provided no further details about its nature.




Operations on the airport's second runway resumed shortly before 2 a.m., while the southern runway remained closed on the morning of August 5, according to a police statement. Hoppe said the federal police operation was nearing completion.


The incident occurred near cargo aircraft operated by Ukrainian carrier Antonov Airlines, which has relocated a significant portion of its operations to Leipzig/Halle Airport, according to the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper.


Antonov Airlines currently bases its An-124 cargo aircraft at Leipzig/Halle and is constructing a new maintenance hangar scheduled for completion in 2027. The airline moved much of its activity to Germany after its original home base at Hostomel Airport was destroyed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.


The latest incident adds to a series of security-related disruptions at German airports linked to suspected drone activity.


In October last year, local media reported that a laser detection system had been deployed near Munich Airport following repeated drone sightings that forced the airport to suspend operations for two consecutive days. In November, flight operations at Berlin Brandenburg Airport were interrupted for around two hours after a drone was reported in its airspace.


According to Germany's air navigation service, DFS, reports of unidentified drones in the country's airspace have been increasing. The agency recorded 144 drone overflights last year, including 35 incidents in the vicinity of Frankfurt Airport.


By Vafa Guliyeva