Liège Airport, Belgium’s second-busiest cargo hub, halted take-offs and landings for roughly 30 minutes on Saturday evening, 9 November, after air-traffic controllers at skeyes detected an unidentified drone inside the controlled zone. Operations resumed at 19:30 local time once the device left the area, but the brief stoppage marked the third drone-related disruption at Liège in as many days.
The airport’s rapid-response protocol, introduced after earlier incidents at Brussels Airport this week, requires an immediate ground stop whenever a drone is confirmed within five kilometres. Saturday’s closure affected four inbound freighters and three outbound flights, forcing two diversions to Cologne-Bonn and Maastricht and delaying time-critical parcels bound for the express integrator hub on site.
![Liège Airport Shuts Down for Third Time in a Week After New Drone Sighting]()
Aviation analysts note that Liège handles around 900,000 tonnes of freight annually and is a key European node for e-commerce giants such as Alibaba and FedEx. Even short interruptions ripple through overnight delivery networks, potentially impacting just-in-time manufacturing supply chains and pharmaceutical shipments that use the airport’s GDP-certified cool chain facilities.
Belgian federal police have widened the security perimeter around Liège and Brussels airports, deploying mobile radar units and asking neighbouring residents to report suspicious activity. Companies with high-value cargo are being urged to activate contingency routings and monitor NOTAM updates hourly.
While no flights were cancelled outright, the recurrence of drone sightings is raising insurance premiums for carriers operating in Belgian airspace and accelerating governmental plans to fast-track national counter-UAS legislation scheduled for debate in parliament later this month.
The airport’s rapid-response protocol, introduced after earlier incidents at Brussels Airport this week, requires an immediate ground stop whenever a drone is confirmed within five kilometres. Saturday’s closure affected four inbound freighters and three outbound flights, forcing two diversions to Cologne-Bonn and Maastricht and delaying time-critical parcels bound for the express integrator hub on site.
Aviation analysts note that Liège handles around 900,000 tonnes of freight annually and is a key European node for e-commerce giants such as Alibaba and FedEx. Even short interruptions ripple through overnight delivery networks, potentially impacting just-in-time manufacturing supply chains and pharmaceutical shipments that use the airport’s GDP-certified cool chain facilities.
Belgian federal police have widened the security perimeter around Liège and Brussels airports, deploying mobile radar units and asking neighbouring residents to report suspicious activity. Companies with high-value cargo are being urged to activate contingency routings and monitor NOTAM updates hourly.
While no flights were cancelled outright, the recurrence of drone sightings is raising insurance premiums for carriers operating in Belgian airspace and accelerating governmental plans to fast-track national counter-UAS legislation scheduled for debate in parliament later this month.
