Air traffic at Eindhoven airport has resumed after a brief disruption caused by drone sightings near the airport, Dutch acting defence minister Ruben Brekelmans said.
“Air traffic at Eindhoven airport has resumed. The defence ministry has taken the necessary measures but cannot provide further information at this time for security reasons,“ he wrote. Brekelmans added that “the disruption of air traffic by drones is unacceptable“ and stressed that Dutch authorities would “react firmly” of similar incidents.
On the evening of November 22, Brekelmans reported that several drones had been spotted near Eindhoven Airport, after which civil and military air traffic was suspended. Police and gendarmerie officers were present at the scene of the incident, and units of the Ministry of Defense have deployed anti-drone equipment. An investigation into the incident is underway.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense specified that similar drone incidents had been recorded near Volkel Air Base and the port of Vlissingen in recent months. However, no criminal proceedings had been initiated in either case. Dutch political scientist Patrick Bolder, for his part, noted that identifying such objects was extremely difficult and warned the country's authorities against “premature hysteria“. He added that only a few radars in the country were capable of distinguishing drones from birds or civilian aircraft.