Outgoing Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans says that Defense has taken measures. He does not indicate what kind of measures are involved “for security reasons”.
The airport was closed as a precaution and flights were diverted. Drones were also seen above the Volkel military base on Friday evening.
Airspace disrupted
A spokesperson told De Telegraaf that the airspace above the airport was disrupted, but it is not yet known why. Flights to and from the airport have been canceled and are being diverted.
Eindhoven airport is not only an airport, but there is also an air base on the site. That is why both civil and military air traffic was suspended. Minister of Defense Brekelmans announced that “counter-drone assets from Defense” are ready to intervene and the police and military police are on site.
The airport’s website showed that planes scheduled to land in Eindhoven would be diverted to Brussels, Rotterdam and Weeze (Germany). It could also be seen that, among other things, an aircraft that was supposed to depart from Eindhoven to Porto had been delayed.
© ANP/HH
Previous descriptions
Drones were already spotted above Volkel air base on Friday evening. For safety reasons, drones are prohibited over airports and military bases. Weapons were deployed from the ground in the hope of downing the drones, Minister Ruben Brekelmans confirmed.
Drones spotted above Volkel military air base, air force used weapons to shoot them down
Recently, drones have been seen more often whose origin is unclear. For example, on Monday evening a large number of drones flew above the port area of Terneuzen. Drones were previously seen at the NATO command center in Brunssum, at Maastricht Aachen Airport and at Schiphol.
Not only Dutch airports are struggling with mysterious drone sightings. There has been a sharp increase in disruptions caused by drones throughout Europe. An analysis by Euronews’ The Cube shows that the number of reports quadrupled between January 2024 and November 2025. There is a clear peak especially from September 2025, with October as an absolute outlier. In total, incidents were investigated at 24 airports in twelve countries.
Drones cause unrest above the Terneuzen port area: police are investigating
Illegal drone flights
Belgium was hit hardest: within eight days, from November 2 to 9, there were ten drone incidents that disrupted air traffic at Brussels airport, among others. The number of reports also increased in Germany and Sweden. Authorities react more fiercely when drones appear above an airport. In Denmark, for example, the number of illegal drone flights rose to 107 in 2025, but while a report in 2024 only led to a brief interruption, by September 2025 drones caused hours-long closures, hundreds of cancellations and thousands of stranded travelers.
Are they Russians or amateurs? Russia denies everything. Only the incident on September 9 in which 23 drones invaded Polish airspace has proven that Russia was behind it. Dutch F-35s had to take action to shoot them down. In other incidents it is more difficult to identify a perpetrator. Experts say identification is difficult because they usually disappear on their own and cannot be traced. Operators are sometimes miles away. Still, some drones appear larger or more advanced than the average hobby drone. That indicates organized disruption. Russia may want to cause confusion in Europe.