Drone malfunction at Berlin's BER airport leads to a 45-minute standstill of flight operations

Due to a drone sighting at the Berlin-Brandenburg capital airport (BER), flight operations there were completely stopped for 45 minutes. The blocking has now been lifted, spokeswomen from BER and the Federal Police told dpa.

A drone was spotted at 8 p.m. The German air traffic control then initially closed the north runway for take-offs and landings, and then also the south runway at 8:20 p.m. The closure was lifted again at 9:05 p.m. The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported.

At no other German airport were as many drones spotted in the first half of the year as at the capital airport BER. The tower in Schönefeld registered 28 such flying objects in the first six months, as the German Air Traffic Control (DFS) announced upon request. That was one more sighting than in the same period at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt am Main.

As a result, air traffic at BER had to be temporarily interrupted in seven cases. What is particularly striking is the big jump compared to the previous year: According to air traffic control, only eight drones were detected at BER and in the surrounding area in the entire year of 2025.