Multiple drone sightings briefly disrupted flight operations at Cologne/Bonn Airport on Wednesday, forcing the temporary suspension of landings and the diversion of two Ryanair flights. Air traffic control restricted parts of the airspace around the airport shortly after midday, while departures continued and normal operations later resumed.
The Federal Police, DFS air navigation service, Cologne/Bonn Airport and Cologne police were involved in the response, and investigators identified a suspected drone pilot. Authorities recorded up to five sightings, though it was not immediately clear whether they involved several drones or repeated views of the same device.
Landings were halted for about 30 minutes from around 12:30 local time for safety reasons, and the airport reported additional delays as crews searched the apron area. Ryanair flights from Porto and Palermo were diverted to Frankfurt-Hahn before service recovered, with operations broadly back to normal by about 14:00.