Berlin-Brandenburg Airport temporarily halted operations on Wednesday evening after a drone was spotted in the area of the northern runway, the airport and the federal police said. Flights were suspended for about 45 minutes, and several planes were diverted to Dresden and Leipzig.
According to the airport, the alert came in around 8:00 p.m. Twenty minutes later, the airspace over Berlin-Brandenburg was closed, and takeoffs and landings on both runways were suspended.
What the police and the airport said
A spokeswoman for the federal police told Bild that “several people had noticed a drone at the airport”. This was the basis for the flight restriction while the area was being checked.
According to the airport, the airspace ban was lifted at 9:05 p.m. By then, some of the arriving flights had already been diverted to other German cities.
It was not reported what kind of drone it was or who was flying it. There are no reports of arrests or damage.
Another incident at the same airport
This is not the first such incident at Berlin-Brandenburg. In early September, an alert was also issued at the airport due to an unidentified substance. In November 2025, flights were also suspended for nearly two hours after a drone was detected in the area.
The German air traffic control service DFS shows that such reports are becoming more frequent. According to its data, 28 drone sightings were recorded at Berlin-Brandenburg in the first half of 2026, more than at any other German airport complex. For the whole of 2025, eight cases were reported there.
Sources: Bild, DFS, German Federal Police, Berlin-Brandenburg Airport