In the second of such incursion in a matter of days, drones have flown over four airports in Denmark.
The drone sightings began shortly before 10pm on Wednesday and ended just before 1am on Thursday. Flights were halted for several hours at Aalborg airport, which also serves as a military base, and airports in Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup were also affected. Skrydstrup is home to some of the Danish military’s fighter jets.
Denmark’s Aalborg airport has been closed but Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup airports remained open despite the drone sightings.
The shutdown of Aalborg, which is used for commercial and military flights, came days after the country’s main Copenhagen airport was forced to shut temporarily. On Monday night, Copenhagen airport was forced to close as a result of the presence of three drones.
A police statement said that “more than one” drone was sighted near Aalborg airport, which is located in northern Denmark, in the Jutland region, and is the country’s fourth-largest city by population.
They also noted that the drone sightings in Aalborg followed a similar pattern to those that halted flights at Copenhagen airport for four hours on Monday.
The police said that closure of Aalborg airport affected Denmark’s armed forces because it is used as a military base.
A police official told a news agency, “It is too early to say what the goal of the drones is and who is the actor behind,” adding that authorities would take down the drones if possible.
Danish police disclosed that they were investigating the actors behind the drones and could not rule out a prank.
The Danish armed forces said that they were assisting local and national police with the investigation.
The drone flights follow similar incursions in Poland and Romania and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which have raised tensions in light of Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine
Professional Hybrid Attack
Denmark’s Defence Minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said at a press conference that the country has been the victim of a professional hybrid attack.
“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. This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.”
Troels Lund Poulsen
He added that this is an arms race against time because technology is constantly evolving.
He said that Denmark was considering activating NATO’s article 4, for the first time in Danish history, but a decision had not yet been made.
He disclosed that Denmark contacted NATO on Thursday morning, adding, “In addition to article 4, there are other things that can be done through NATO.”
That call, which would initiate consultation among alliance members, was invoked by Estonia on September 19, 2025, after three Russian fighter jets violated its airspace.
He added that Denmark does not consider itself under direct military threat.
Poulsen said that although the Danish armed forces had “a number of capabilities”, they would like to have more. The government has come under criticism in recent days for not shooting down the drones.
Denmark’s Minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard, said that the goal of the flyovers was to sow fear and division and that the country would seek additional ways to neutralise drones, including proposing legislation to allow infrastructure owners to shoot them down.
He said that Copenhagen was “not ruling out anything in terms of who is behind this.”
Hummelgaard said that the threat from hybrid attacks is “here to stay,” describing recent events as “deeply worrying incidents across Europe.”
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