\n Munich Airport in Germany was forced to close temporarily last night after a wave of drone sightings, the latest European aviation hub to shutter over unexplained drone flights.\n <\/p>\n
\n A total of 17 flights were grounded shortly after 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, affecting nearly 3,000 passengers, the airport said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n
\n In addition, 15 arriving flights were diverted to the German cities of Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Frankfurt, as well as Vienna in neighboring Austria, the statement said. Flight tracking website Flightradar showed several planes circling the airport at around 11pm local time before heading to other destinations.\n <\/p>\n
\n A call handler fielding passenger enquiries for Munich Airport overnight told CNN: \u201cSome flights are still waiting to take off, others have been canceled. Everything is under control and the airport is due to reopen at 5 a.m.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n A departures board on the airport\u2019s website showed several flights with a \u201cplanned\u201d departure status for after 5 am local time.\n <\/p>\n
\n The airport in Bavaria, southern Germany, is a hub for German flag-carrier Lufthansa, and served nearly 20 million passengers in the first half of this year.\n <\/p>\n
\n A Lufthansa spokesperson told CNN that 19 of its flights were cancelled or diverted due to the closure, including three long-haul flights to Asia which are set to be rescheduled.\n <\/p>\n
\n It had provided the affected passengers with food, drink and blankets, they said.\n <\/p>\n
\n CNN has reached out to the Bavarian state police, Germany\u2019s Federal Criminal Police Office, and Germany\u2019s domestic intelligence agency for comment.\n <\/p>\n
\n Munich becomes the latest European airport to close after sightings of drones nearby. A spate of sightings over several airports in Denmark last week saw tens of thousands of passengers impacted.\n <\/p>\n
\n Denmark later banned all civil drone flights in its airspace as it prepared to host a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen this week to discuss support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and bolstering European security.\n <\/p>\n
\n At the summit leaders were expected to discuss several measures intended to protect the continent\u2019s skies, including a flagship \u201cdrone wall\u201d initiative.\n <\/p>\n
\n The drone wall initiative would not be a physical wall, but instead a layered network of detection and interception systems, building on individual EU members\u2019 anti-drone capabilities.\n <\/p>\n
\n Europe has been on high alert in recent weeks due to a string of drone sightings, as well as alleged incursions by Russian drones into NATO airspace over Poland and Romania, and the alleged violation of Estonian airspace<\/a> by Russian fighter jets.\n <\/p>\n \n Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that while authorities cannot conclude who was behind the drone sightings in Denmark, \u201cwe can at least conclude that there is primarily one country that poses a threat to Europe\u2019s security \u2013 and that is Russia.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Kremlin has denied involvement in the drone sightings, as well as that it violated Estonian airspace.\n <\/p>\n \n During a lengthy four hour televised event on Thursday, which touched on multiple key sticking points with Europe and the US, Putin scoffed at Western claims of possible Russian involvement in recent drone flights over Denmark, casting them as part of purported NATO efforts to \u201cinflame tensions to boost the defense spending.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI won\u2019t anymore. Not to France, not to Denmark, not to Copenhagen,\u201d he joked, in reference to the drone flight allegations.\n <\/p>\n \n But he also issued a veiled threat.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe are carefully watching the growing militarization of Europe,\u201d he said. \u201cIs all of this just words or is it time for us to take countermeasures? No one should have doubt that Russia\u2019s countermeasures will not take a long time to come.\u201d\n <\/p>\n