German Prosecutors Take Over Airport Drone Probe After Explosive Found

German state prosecutors have taken over an investigation after a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig/Halle airport.

Earlier on Wednesday, authorities said a suspicious object had been found near the southern runway of the airport in eastern Germany, which serves as a major hub for logistics group DHL and Ukraine's Antonov Airlines, causing disruption and the suspension of flights.

The Central Office for Extremism Saxony (ZESA) and officers from the state counter-terrorism unit have now become involved, it said, after the drone was found to be carrying an explosive device. The detonator attached to the drone has since been removed.

Several aircraft, including a passenger flight, had earlier been forced to divert to other airports after the sighting of a second, unidentified flying object, shortly before midnight on Tuesday.

While air traffic was being diverted, a DHL cargo aircraft hit an unknown object as it was climbing away from the airport, prompting an unscheduled landing in Hanover, a source familiar with the incident said. The north runway has since reopened, while the south runway remained closed into Wednesday.

German airports are on high alert after a series of unauthorised drone overflights at sites including military facilities, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies.

Federal police have said the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.

Bild first reported that a drone with an explosive device had been found lying in the immediate vicinity of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane shortly before midnight on Tuesday.

The airline has used Leipzig/Halle as an operating base since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

European security agencies have been investigating a series of incendiary devices concealed in parcels that caught fire in 2024, raising concerns about sabotage of air cargo operators.

Some of the devices were found at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig and in freight shipments in transit across Europe.

Another Interior Ministry spokesperson said no connection with Tuesday night's incident could be determined at this stage.

Russia has denied any involvement in the 2024 incidents and the more recent overflights.

DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said the German logistics firm was still studying the overnight incident, but trying to minimise the effect on customers.