Germany plans new ‘drone detection system’ around airports

Germany plans new ‘drone detection system’ to enforce an 11-mile exclusion zone around airports and stop a repeat of London Gatwick chaos

  • Berlin aviation officials want to defend an area up to 4,300 feet above ground
  • Frankfurt Airport has already been forced to shut its runway twice this year
  • Thousands of passengers had Christmas ruined by Gatwick chaos last December

Germany is planning to build a new ‘drone detection system’ at airports to prevent the kind of chaos which struck London’s Gatwick Airport last Christmas. 

Berlin aviation officials are drawing up plans for an 11-mile exclusion zone around major airports which would prevent unmanned aerial vehicles from endangering planes. 

The new system would allow airport bosses to defend an area up to 4,300 feet above the ground, according to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.  

Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s biggest airline hub, has already been forced to shut its runway twice this year over drone fears. 

German airports such as Frankfurt (file photo) could be protected by a new ‘drone detection system’ 

‘The operation of unmanned aerial vehicles near airfields is a significant risk for the safety of flight operations,’ an air traffic control spokesman said.   

State and federal police would be deployed to man the new equipment but it remains unclear who would pay for it. 

Airport bosses are reportedly reluctant to put up the money to pay for protection zones well beyond the perimeter of the airfield.   

The ‘recent events in which drones forced air traffic to come to a standstill’ had prompted the new plan, the spokesman said. 

At present, Germany drone operators are banned from flying their contraptions closer than 0.9 miles (1.5km) to an airport but that limit may now be vastly extended. 

In March Frankfurt Airport, the hub for Lufthansa, halted air traffic for around 30 minutes after a drone was sighted nearby. 

Only weeks later, Frankfurt was forced into another 48-minute stoppage which left dozens of flights delayed or cancelled.  

Some passengers were forced to wait on the tarmac while a helicopter circled overhead in the search for the drone, according to German media.  

Lufthansa, Germany’s flag-carrying airline, said at the time the ‘safety of our passengers is our highest priority’. 

UK police officers stand near equipment on the roof of a building at London Gatwick last year as they try to bring the drone chaos under control

UK police officers stand near equipment on the roof of a building at London Gatwick last year as they try to bring the drone chaos under control 

Stranded passengers wait at London Gatwick Airport five days before Christmas last year after the drone chaos which affected more than 100,000 travellers

Stranded passengers wait at London Gatwick Airport five days before Christmas last year after the drone chaos which affected more than 100,000 travellers 

Frankfurt, the fourth-busiest airport in Europe, handles hundreds of Lufthansa flights a day around Europe and the world. 

Airports have been on high alert since the London Gatwick chaos last December which ruined Christmas travel plans for more than 100,000 people.  

A number of drone sightings forced Britain’s second-busiest airport to shut down for 33 hour. 

The chaos continued despite a huge police operation and the Army was eventually called to bring the incident under control.

No culprit has been identified, prompting speculation that the drones had been mistaken for police equipment.  

Military anti-drone equipment, which can detect the flying machines and disable them by jamming radio signals, remained at the airport until March.

Gatwick and Heathrow are investing millions in their own systems to prevent future flight disruption. 

Experts warn that a drone collision could be catastrophic, especially if a plane’s engine is struck. 

Commercial drones have geofencing technology which is meant to stop them flying in restricted areas. 

However, it is possible to obtain permission and anyone who built their own drone could exclude the geoblocking feature.     

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk