Drone with explosive device found at German airport, detonator removed

A drone with an explosive device was found at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport and a detonator was removed from the object, authorities said on Wednesday. Both the airport’s runways were closed and several flights, including one passenger plane, were diverted to other airports after a flying object was sighted nearby shortly before midnight, police said, and an anti-explosives robot was deployed to check an object near the south runway. A statement later on Wednesday from Saxony’s state criminal police office and prosecutors in the state capital of Dresden said an airport employee discovered a drone near the airport’s south runway with “an unknown explosive device” and the object was examined by police.

They removed its detonator. The statement didn’t elaborate on the nature of the device. Meanwhile, an apparent second flying object collided with a freight airplane after it aborted a landing because the runway was closed, police and prosecutors said.

The plane flew to another German airport, Hannover, about 200km to the north-west, where officials found slight damage. The north runway at Leipzig/Halle was reopened after about two hours. The south runway was scheduled to be out of action for maintenance on Wednesday.

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Authorities said there was no danger to passengers or airport employees, and flights weren’t affected on Wednesday. Photos from the scene showed police technicians with an explosives-disposal robot near a Ukrainian plane. The airport is a major cargo hub and the planes located there include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.

There was no immediate information about who might have been responsible for the drone. Nato said it was aware of the incident but referred queries to German authorities. In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics centre at the airport and set fire to a freight container, part of a plot that Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind.

The flight it was supposed to take was delayed. Asked whether he saw any direct connection to the overnight incident, German interior ministry spokesperson Leonard Kaminski said he did not at that point.

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