Air traffic resumes at Belgian airport after drone sighting

BRUSSELS

Air traffic at a Belgian airport resumed Friday morning after operations were briefly suspended due to the presence of a drone near the airport's FedEx facilities.

The interruption began at 6.56 am local time (0556GMT) after a drone was detected in the vicinity of the airport in the city of Liege, some 95 kilometers (59 miles) from Brussels, according to daily La Libre, citing air traffic management company Skeyes.

Liege Airport said the impact on operations remained "very limited."

The latest incident follows two previous disruptions earlier in the week. Flights to and from Liege Airport were temporarily halted on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after drones were observed, while similar incidents also occurred at Brussels Airport.

Recent months have seen a series of drone incursions in several European countries, sometimes near airports or military facilities, including over a Belgian military base this week.

Some European officials have blamed the incidents on Russia, linking them to a hybrid war and the continuing Ukraine conflict. Moscow, however, has firmly denied any involvement.

Police drone flights

Separately, police in the Brussels Capital-Ixelles zone were found to have conducted 144 surveillance drone flights between this April and June as part of a pilot project carried out by a private company.

According to a report by Le Soir, the Police Information Control Body (COC) determined the project was illegal because a private company could have potentially accessed or processed police data.

The police, however, said the three-month test phase had already ended by the time it received the COC's notification, adding that "no data collection or processing" occurred during the 144 flights.