Denmark says ‘professional actor’ behind drone flights over airports

Copenhagen says ‘hybrid attack’ designed to create fear, will acquire new capabilities to detect, down drones

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Passengers check a bord displaying flight informations at the Copenhagen Airport in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 23, 2025.

(AFP)

Denmark said on Thursday a "professional actor" was behind drone flights over multiple airports this week in a "hybrid attack" designed to create fear, adding it would acquire new capabilities to detect and down drones.

Police said early Thursday that drones flew over several airports across the country and caused one of them to close for hours, after a similar incident early this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut down.

"There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time," Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference.

He termed it a "hybrid attack" but underscored there was "no direct military threat" to Denmark.

The drone flights follow similar incidents in Poland and Romania and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which have raised tensions in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said Denmark would acquire new enhanced capabilities to "detect" and to "neutralise drones".