Air traffic at Brussels Airport in Zaventem was halted for around 30 minutes on Thursday evening after fresh reports of drone activity near the site.
The alert was raised at around 7 pm, although air traffic controller Skeyes said the information had not yet been formally confirmed.
For safety reasons, airspace is closed automatically when such sightings occur. If no further activity is detected after thirty minutes, flights can resume. Shortly before 10 pm, operations at Zaventem were restored.
"Flights have resumed since 9.53pm," confirmed a Brussels Airport spokeswoman to Niewsblaad. "We diverted one flight to Amsterdam. We'll see how things develop."
According to local media, flights to and from the airport did not appear to be fully suspended. Tracking platforms such as Flightradar24 continued to show aircraft movements in the area.
The incident comes after two drone-related interruptions on Tuesday evening, when pilots reported unidentified devices in the vicinity of the airport.
Air traffic at Liège Airport was also interrupted on Thursday evening and again on Friday morning following reports of drone sightings.
Drones spotted over nuclear research centre
Drones have been spotted in recent days above and around the SCK CEN nuclear research centre in Mol, local police confirmed on Thursday. Officers saw one of the devices themselves after responding to a report, but the drone's origin could not be determined.
Police stressed that the drones did not remain continuously above the nuclear site. "They have also been seen over the European Quarter and the European School," said spokesperson Robert Lehaen to RTBF.
"Each time a report comes in, we deploy our teams. When we locate a drone, we try to identify its model and anticipate its trajectory, but that is difficult, especially in the dark."
The Balen Dessel Mol police zone does not have its own anti-drone unit, meaning drones can only be tracked using patrol vehicles. "We have already seen a drone near Geel, and our colleagues carried out checks on site," Lehaen said.
He added that recent media coverage of drone flights over critical infrastructure has made residents more alert, which may also explain the rise in reports, whether accurate or not.
Drones spotted over Florennes
At around 9 pm on Thursday, several drones were reportedly seen in and around the Florennes airbase in the province of Namur. The town's mayor spoke of "strong suspicions" and said the base, local police and municipal authorities were in constant contact as they assessed the situation. Drones had also been spotted over Florennes on Tuesday night, shortly after 8 pm.
The airbase recently received the first four F-35 fighter jets ordered by Belgium to replace its ageing F-16 fleet.
Germany steps in
Facing a surge in suspicious drone flights in recent weeks, Germany announced on Thursday that it would support Belgium's efforts to counter the incursions. Belgian Defence Minister Theo Franken shared the news on X.
🇩🇪 Germany supports its #NATO Ally 🇧🇪Belgium with drone defence capabilities following drone sightings over 🇧🇪 airports and military bases. The deployment underlines our close cooperation in the Alliance and the solidarity of European partners in dealing with hybrid threats. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/L6Ic4p5oAe
— Germany at NATO (@GermanyNATO) November 6, 2025
"At Belgium's request, the Bundeswehr will support our neighbouring country in the short term by providing capabilities to combat small unmanned aerial systems," Germany’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The request followed "a significant increase in sightings of unidentified unmanned aircraft, including around Belgian military installations," the ministry added.
Several European countries have reported similar drone activity over sensitive sites in recent months. Last weekend, the Kleine Brogel airbase, which hosts US nuclear weapons in north-east Belgium, was overflown three times, prompting a military intelligence investigation.
This is a developing story.
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