Once in a while we’ll hear of airport operations being interrupted by unauthorized drones. However, last night we saw what seems to be a pretty unprecedented drone attack on a major airport.
Drones cause operational issues at Copenhagen Airport
On the evening of Monday, September 22, 2025, Copenhagen Airport (CPH) was shut down for several hours. Starting at around 8:30PM, and for a period lasting a few hours, drones were spotted in the area of the airport.
According to the police, the drones were unusually large, and they may have been flown in from far away, or even from a ship. Shooting down the drones would’ve been too risky, given the potential danger to those on the ground.
This drone attack caused the airport to close to arriving and departing flights, leading to dozens of flight diversions and cancellations. Police were on sight at the airport, and an investigation is being conducted into what the source of these drones was. Eventually the drones just disappeared, and normal operations resumed.
There’s believed to be a professional motive for this
Sometimes when airport operations are interrupted by drones, it’s because some amateur is just flying their drone too close to the airport, without understanding the impacts that can have on the operation.
However, in this situation, Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, is calling these drones a grave attack on key infrastructure, and believes this was a deliberate attempt to disrupt operations. It’s the biggest such attack that the country has dealt with to date.
The belief is that this was a professional attack with a deliberate motive, and police are working closely with the military and international partner services to determine the cause. The leading theory is that this was a state-sponsored operation, aimed at disrupting operations at the airport.
It has been a rough several days at European airports, as we also recently saw a cyberattack that caused operational issues at several European airports. For that matter, we’ve also seen an Estonian airspace violation by Russia. We’ll see how this all plays out, but it sure sounds like this wasn’t the first such attack, and might not be the last.
I’m no expert on police investigations or drones, so I do have a question. When these drones had shut down the airport for hours, how were they not able to trace where the drones went? You’d think a helicopter or plane could track these, no? Is it because the drones go “dark,” or…?
Bottom line
Copenhagen Airport suffered a drone attack last night, whereby large drones were spotted near the airport, causing operations to be suspended for hours. It’s believed that this was an intentional act, and it’s being investigated as such. It sure seems like Russia may be involved in some form, given recent happenings, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough…
What do you make of this drone attack at Copenhagen Airport?
