A drone sighting led to a nearly two-hour suspension of flight operations at Berlin's main airport BER on Friday evening. Numerous flights were diverted, including those from Stockholm, Antalya, and Helsinki. Security authorities lifted the alert after one hour and 50 minutes.
The incident occurred on the evening of Friday, October 31, 2025. Around 20:00, a witness reported a drone near BER airport. The crew of a police patrol car confirmed the sighting, but the device was soon undetectable. «It's not flying anymore currently», said a police spokesperson in Potsdam. Flight operations were suspended from 20:08 to 21:58. A police helicopter was deployed, and the Federal Aviation Office got involved.
Numerous flights were affected. Aircraft from Stockholm, Antalya, Helsinki, and London – the latter diverted to Hamburg – had to reroute. Further diversions went to Dresden (four flights), Leipzig (four), Hamburg (three), and Hannover (several). Flights to Basel, Oslo, and Barcelona could not depart. The pilot of the London flight informed passengers about the drones. The airport warned on platform X: «Unfortunately, there may continue to be delays and cancellations of flights at BER. Please check your flight status early with your airline and use online check-in.»
«Safety comes first», emphasized an airport spokesperson. After resuming operations, he said: «We assume the danger is averted for now.» To mitigate impacts, the aviation authority relaxed the night flight ban: Takeoffs until 1:00 a.m. and landings until 4:00 a.m. were exceptionally permitted.
Such incidents are increasing. Nationwide, 144 drone interferences were recorded by end of August 2025, compared to 113 the previous year and 99 in 2023. At BER, the German Air Navigation Services recorded five cases so far this year, after 20 last year and more than 15 in 2023. Drones are prohibited within a 1.5-kilometer radius of airports and can endanger takeoffs and landings. The Airport Association ADV called for improved state drone defense. «The multi-hour shutdown of Berlin's main airport is a security policy wake-up call», said Managing Director Ralph Beisel. «Drone detection and defense are sovereign tasks of the state.» Similarly, a drone incident disrupted operations in Munich early October.
