Drones fly over military airbases and airports in Belgium again

On the evening of November 4, drones were spotted over the country's airports and military airbases. Brussels Airport suspended operations and 40 flights were canceled for the morning.

This was reported by HLN.

So, on Tuesday evening, drones were spotted over the Florenc and Kleine-Brogel military airbases.

In addition, air traffic over Brussels Airport was stopped for the second time at around 10:00 pm local time. Earlier in the evening, around 8:00 pm, air traffic in Zaventem had already been stopped for over an hour.

"Currently (on the evening of November 4 - ed.) there are no departures or arrivals at Brussels Airport due to reports of drones around the airport. We will provide updated information as soon as we receive more data," the airport said.

Air traffic at Liege airport was also suspended after drones were spotted.

Belgian Interior and Security Minister Bernard Quintin asked the Prime Minister to urgently convene the National Security Council, which he immediately agreed to.

The minister had previously activated the National Crisis Center, which coordinates such situations. The federal police sent a helicopter to the scene, and local police deployed additional patrols.

"Our national airport was closed this evening after several drones were spotted in the airspace around the airport. Luxembourg airport was also temporarily closed after similar drone sightings," Quintin said.

The minister stressed that airports cannot be allowed to be disrupted by unauthorized drone flights. He said that this requires a coordinated, national approach.

As of Wednesday morning, flights at Brussels Airport are allowed to take off again, but forty flights have been canceled due to drone incidents. These are 16 arriving flights and 24 departing flights.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 3, the Chief of the General Staff of the Belgian Armed Forces, Frederic Vansina, said that the Belgian army had received an order to shoot down any unidentified drones over military bases.

As a reminder, on October 2, 15 drones were spotted over the Elsenborn military base in southeastern Belgium.

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said that the drones over the Kleine-Brogel air base were spying on F-16 fighters.