Copenhagen Airport shut after drone sightings

On the evening of 22 September 2025, Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup), the Nordic region's busiest hub, closed its airspace for roughly four hours after two to three large unidentified drones were observed flying in the vicinity. The closure began around 8:00 to 8:30 pm CEST and lasted until shortly after midnight on 23 September, halting all takeoffs and landings. Several inbound flights were diverted to airports including Malmö in Sweden, and a large number of departures were delayed or cancelled, stranding thousands of travellers. Police described the drones as larger than those available to private hobbyists and chose not to shoot them down for safety reasons.

Copenhagen's police chief said the drones' number, size, flight patterns and time over the airport together indicated a capable actor, adding that the operators' location was unknown and could have been kilometres away, possibly from a ship. The incident marked the start of a wave of drone sightings over Danish airports and military sites in late September 2025. The same night, Oslo's Gardermoen Airport in Norway also closed its airspace for several hours following a separate drone observation, though authorities cautioned there was no confirmed link between the two events.

Danish authorities characterised the activity as a likely hybrid operation intended to disrupt critical infrastructure and unsettle the public. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called it the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date and pointed to a capable actor, while noting parallels with earlier drone incursions over Poland and Romania. She did not formally attribute the incident to Russia, and as of late September 2025 no perpetrator had been publicly identified. The professional execution and coordination with the Oslo event suggest a deliberate operation rather than recreational activity, but attribution remains unproven and under investigation.