Drone Chaos Shuts Down Copenhagen and Oslo Airports

The skies over Scandinavia fell silent. On Monday night, the bustling airports of Copenhagen and Oslo were turned into ghost towns, forced to shut down for hours after multiple sightings of large, unidentified drones in their restricted airspace. As Reuter reports, the closures stranded tens of thousands of passengers, diverted dozens of flights, and sent a ripple of alarm across a continent already on high alert. This wasn’t a case of a lost hobby drone. According to Danish police, this was the work of a “capable operator” in a sophisticated, coordinated display. It’s a story that highlights the extreme vulnerability of our critical infrastructure and raises urgent questions for the entire aviation world.

Lights Out Over Copenhagen

The drama began around 10 p.m. in Copenhagen. Two or three large drones were spotted maneuvering in the airport’s airspace. As a precaution, Denmark’s air navigation service, Naviair, immediately halted all takeoffs and landings. Over 35 inbound flights were diverted as planes were left circling in the sky. The scene, as described by passengers, was eerie. Danish police Chief Superintendent Jens Jespersen noted at a press conference that the drones came from multiple directions, flashing their lights on and off in what seemed like a deliberate demonstration of skill rather than an act of malice. Still, in the current geopolitical climate, the possibility of a Russian hybrid attack could not be ruled out. Shooting them down was not an option. With full terminals, planes on the tarmac, and nearby fuel depots, the risk of collateral damage was far too high. After nearly four hours, the drones vanished, leaving a trail of chaos and cancellations that lasted well into the next day.

Echoes in Oslo

Just a few hours later, the scene repeated itself in Oslo, Norway. Around midnight, two separate drone sightings forced the airport to close for three hours, again diverting flights and causing massive disruption. While no direct link to the Copenhagen incident has been confirmed, the timing is, to say the an least, highly suspicious. This is not the first time a major airport has been brought to its knees by a drone. The infamous 2018 Gatwick shutdown stranded 140,000 travelers for three days, and no one was ever charged. These incidents prove just how easily a determined drone operator can paralyze a multi-billion dollar piece of infrastructure.

A Jittery Alliance

This is all happening at a time of heightened tension for NATO. The alliance’s eastern flank has been on edge since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the war has been defined by the use of drone technology. We’ve seen a recent spate of Russian drones crossing into both Poland and Romania, prompting NATO to launch Operation Eastern Sentry to bolster its air defenses. While the Kremlin’s spokesman has dismissed any accusations related to the airport incidents as “unfounded,” the pattern is deeply concerning. Whether this was a state-sponsored provocation, a group of highly skilled but incredibly reckless hobbyists, or something else entirely, the effect is the same: it exposes a critical vulnerability and forces NATO to react.

DroneXL’s Take

This story it’s a complex mix of professional admiration, deep concern, and a touch of frustration. The skill described by the Danish police—controlling multiple large drones in a complex airspace at night—is technically impressive. It’s the kind of mission profile you might practice in a safe, controlled environment. To do it over one of Europe’s busiest airports is a level of recklessness that is almost beyond comprehension.

I’ve had my own drone glitch out in unexpected ways. I’ve lost signal, I’ve had compass errors, I’ve battled sudden gusts of wind. The thought of that happening in the flight path of a commercial airliner is a nightmare scenario. That is why the rules are there. That is why airports are, and must always be, sacred, no-fly zones.

This incident is a massive wake-up call. It proves that our defenses are not yet adequate to handle a determined drone threat. The old model of relying on fighter jets is not a sustainable solution for this new kind of low-and-slow challenge.

For us, the community of responsible pilots, this is a moment for introspection. The actions of these operators, whoever they are, will inevitably lead to calls for stricter regulations that could impact all of us. It reinforces our immense responsibility to be the best possible ambassadors for this technology. We must fly safely, fly legally, and be the ones to prove that a drone in the right hands is a tool of incredible good, not a threat. The sky is big enough for all of us, but only if we share it with respect.

Photo credit: Avinor Oslo lufthavn/Espen Solli, By kallerna – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0