Hannover Airport Shuts Runways Twice Overnight After Drone Sightings

Hannover-Langenhagen Airport closed its runways in stages overnight Monday into Tuesday, August 11, after a drone was spotted at roughly 25 meters altitude. One runway closed first, then the entire airport around 4:00 a.m.; operations partially resumed after the drone disappeared but were suspended again at 4:21 a.m. when it reappeared, before flights fully resumed at 5:20 a.m. Six passenger flights were delayed and a cargo aircraft from Paris was diverted to Nuremberg. Hannover criminal police opened an investigation; a police report noted that given the airport's critical-infrastructure status, 'the presence of hybrid activity cannot be ruled out,' while cautioning it was not yet clear whether the incident was linked to the explosive-laden drone found at Leipzig/Halle Airport a week earlier.