Belgium, Brussels and Liège airports closed again for drones: 80 flights cancelled
"When a drone is spotted, the standard procedure is to interrupt flights for at least 30 minutes, the time needed to carry out the appropriate checks and ensure that there are no more unwanted overflights. That is what happened in this case,' explained Skeyes, who controls Belgium's airspace.
At least 80 flights have been cancelled since last night at Brussels' Zaventem airport, Belgium's busiest, due to the presence of drones in the area, but the situation is expected to return to normal today, Wednesday 5, spokeswoman for the Brussels airport Ariane Goossens told Afp. Many flights have therefore been diverted to neighbouring countries and airports, particularly in the Netherlands, and between 400 and 500 passengers have been forced to spend the night at the airport because of the cancellations, the spokeswoman added.
However, this morning 'flights can resume' at Zaventem' and 'the situation will return to normal in the course of the day', he pointed out. Skeyes, the company responsible for Belgian air traffic control, had to suspend all air traffic over the country twice on Tuesday evening around 8pm and again at 10pm following two consecutive reports of drones near Brussels and Liège airports. Like many other European countries, Belgium has also witnessed incidents over the past two months caused by drones deemed suspicious flying over sensitive places or infrastructure.
'When a drone is spotted, the standard procedure is to interrupt flights for at least 30 minutes, the time needed to carry out the appropriate checks and ensure that there are no more unwanted overflights,' Skeyes, which controls Belgium's airspace, explained yesterday on Tuesday 4. At the moment, according to Skeyes, 'there is no evidence to establish a link between the detections in Brussels and Liège'.
The closures
Air traffic at Brussels Zaventem Airport had already been disrupted on Tuesday evening, shortly before 8pm, for safety reasons, after a drone was reported in its airspace, air traffic controller Skeyes confirmed. This was reported on the website of the Belgian newspaper 'Le Soir'.
"Shortly before 8pm, a drone was reported over the territory of the airport, said Kurt Verwilligen, spokesman for Skeyes. 'For safety reasons, all air traffic was temporarily suspended,' he added. Several planes heading to Zaventem had to be diverted, in particular to Liège airport.
