LAST UPDATE | 25 Sep

DENMARK’S DEFENCE MINISTER has said that separate drone incursions this week that have caused the closure of two of the country’s airports were a systematic and hybrid operation by a “professional actor”. 

Drones were spotted at Denmark’s airports in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and at the Skrydstrup air base last night before leaving on their own, police said.

The sightings began shortly before 10pm on Wednesday and ended just before 1am this morning. 

Aalborg airport, located in northern Denmark and one of the country’s biggest after Copenhagen, was shut down before reopening several hours later.

It came just days after a similar incident this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut, and follows similar events in Poland and Romania and the violation by Russian fighter jets of Estonia’s airspace, which have raised tensions amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

“There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time,” Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference this morning.

“This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.”

He said there was no evidence that Russia was behind the incursions. 

Authorities said they were unable to neutralise the drones but added there was no threat to the public.

“It was not possible to take down the drones, which flew over a very large area over a couple of hours,” North Jutland chief police inspector Jesper Bojgaard Madsen said about the incident in Aalborg.

“At this time, we have not apprehended the drone operators either,” he added in a statement.

Danish Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard, Chief of Police Thorkild Fogde, and Chief of Defense Michael Hyldgaard hold a press conference to provide an update on the recent drone activities at several airports in Denmark. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

South Jutland police said they had “received several reports of drone activity at the airports in Esbjerg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup”, late Wednesday evening.

The Esbjerg and Sonderborg airports were not closed because no flights were scheduled there until this morning.

Police there said the drones “flew with lights and were observed from the ground, but it has not yet been clarified what type of drones they are… or what the motive is.”

An investigation was underway with the Danish intelligence service and the armed forces to “clarify the circumstances”, police said.

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The probe comes days after police said several large drones flew over Copenhagen airport, shutting the facility for hours.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday described the Copenhagen incident as the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure” to date.

“This is part of the development we have recently observed with other drone attacks, airspace violations, and cyberattacks targeting European airports,” Frederiksen said.

Moscow has denied being involved in that incident, and rejected accusations from the governments of Poland, Estonia and Romania over drones or airspace violations by fighter jets.

This week’s drone incidents follow Denmark announcing it will acquire long-range precision weapons for the first time, citing the need to be able to hit distant targets as Russia would pose a threat “for years to come”.

Moscow’s ambassador to Copenhagen, Vladimir Barbin, had called the statement “pure madness”.

Additional reporting from © AFP 2025