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Two incoming flights at Oslo Airport were temporarily redirected Saturday after a drone was spotted flying near the facility, prompting a brief security response that has since been resolved with police taking control of the device and its operator.
The aircraft approaching Gardermoen were rerouted to an alternate runway after the unmanned aerial vehicle was observed in the vicinity of the airport's western runway, according to operations manager Rune Isaksen. Authorities immediately contacted the drone pilot and secured both the equipment and the individual responsible.
Avinor press officer Karoline Pedersen confirmed that airport personnel alerted police as soon as the drone was detected near the restricted area. The redirection of the two planes was executed as a standard safety protocol, she explained.
"This meant that we redirected two incoming planes to another runway," Pedersen said, emphasizing that operations quickly stabilized with "no major drama."
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Oslo Airport maintains a five-kilometer exclusion zone where drone flights are prohibited, and officials notify law enforcement whenever unauthorized devices are detected within this perimeter. Pedersen noted that investigators have not yet determined the drone's exact proximity to the runway during the incident.
Air traffic at the airport has returned to normal operations following the brief disruption.
The incident comes amid a pattern of unauthorized drone flights in European airspace. In recent months, drones allegedly connected to Russia have violated Polish and Romanian airspace and disrupted airports and military installations, though Russian authorities have denied any involvement in such activities.
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