Oslo Gardermoen Airport closed after drone sighting

On the night of 22 to 23 September 2025, Oslo Airport Gardermoen (OSL) closed its airspace after reports of drone activity overhead. Airport operator Avinor said the closure followed two separate drone sightings. The airspace was shut at around midnight local time and reopened at 03:22, with full operations resuming by roughly 04:30. According to Oslo Airport communications manager Monica Fasting, the disruption led to six cancellations, and inbound flights were diverted during the closure, including services unable to land from London Gatwick, Manchester and Malaga, leaving several hundred passengers stranded.

The Oslo closure occurred on the same night as a more prolonged drone-related shutdown at Copenhagen Airport, and Danish and Norwegian police said they would cooperate to determine whether the two incidents were linked. The episodes formed part of a wider wave of drone sightings reported over Nordic airports and other sites in late September 2025. On 7 November 2025, Norwegian police shelved the Oslo investigation, stating they could not confirm whether the observations on the night of 22 September were in fact drones. Officers had interviewed airport staff, reviewed security camera footage and sought additional witnesses, but the inquiry reached a dead end and was closed for lack of evidence.

Attribution for the Oslo sightings remains unknown. Norwegian police ultimately could not even verify that drones were present and shelved the case for lack of evidence, so no actor or motive has been established. The timing alongside the Copenhagen closure and a broader cluster of late-September 2025 Nordic drone reports prompted speculation about coordinated activity, but any such link is unconfirmed and should be treated as context rather than fact. Officials stressed that flight safety was not threatened. The incident illustrates how unverified drone reports can force costly airport shutdowns regardless of whether a genuine threat is later confirmed.