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Air traffic at Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands was suspended on Saturday nightb due to multiple drone sightings, a senior minister announced.
In a post on X this evening, Ruben Brekelmans, the defence minister, said the sightings in the southern Dutch city had prompted civilian and military air traffic to be suspended.
Mr Brekelmans said counter-drone teams were put on standby, with police investigating at the scene - with flights later resumed around 10pm.
'Further investigation is ongoing and we will take action where necessary,' he added.
The suspension comes amid a surge in mysterious drone incursions sweeping across northern Europe, raising fresh fears of targeted disruption around key military and civilian sites and suspected Russian involvement.
Only on Friday, unidentified drones were seen loitering above Volkel Air Base – a highly sensitive NATO facility just 24 miles north of the airport.
According to the defence ministry, personnel even deployed weapons in an effort to bring the aircraft down, after they were spotted between 7pm and 9pm local time.
The drones 'departed and were never recovered', officials said.
Volkel Air Base houses both Royal Netherlands Air Force units and a US Air Force squadron, and is considered one of the Netherlands' most sensitive military locations.
The unexplained activity sparked immediate alarm, with officials refusing to disclose further details about the drones.
In a follow-up post on X shortly after 10pm on Saturday, Mr Brekelmans added: 'Flight operations at Eindhoven Airport have just resumed.
'The Ministry of Defence has taken measures, but due to security reasons, it cannot yet share more information about the manner in which this was done.
'Disruption of air traffic with drones is unacceptable. So we are taking action against it.'
The activity follows several similar high-profile shutdowns across the region in recent months.
In September, Europe was rocked by a string of alarming airspace breaches, with more than 20 Russian drones storming into Polish skies and three Russian military jets brazenly violating Estonian airspace for 12 minutes.
Poland was forced into unprecedented action, shooting down drones inside its own territory with support from NATO aircraft - the first time a member of the alliance has fired in defence during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Several drones smashed into civilian homes and even a Territorial Defence Forces base as the chaos unfolded.
According to German newspaper Die Welt, five of the drones were flying directly towards a NATO hub used to ferry weapons and supplies into Ukraine, triggering deep concern inside the alliance. Hours later, two more drones crossed into Lithuania, leaving NATO capitals on edge.
Dutch F-35s downed the drones heading for the NATO base, but the incident rattled Warsaw so severely that Poland invoked Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, forcing emergency talks among allied nations.
Since then, unexplained drone incursions, many with no confirmed origin, have repeatedly disrupted European airspace.
In the same month, Copenhagen Airport was plunged into chaos for more than four hours when two or three 'large' drones were sighted nearby, forcing 35 flights to divert and stranding thousands of passengers.
Oslo Airport in Norway was also temporarily shut the same night, with two arrests made after drones were seen over a military installation.
Similar incidents have since crippled Brussels Airport in November and an airport in Liège, where Belgium's defence minister Theo Francken warned the incursions were the work of 'professionals' intent on destabilisation.
The wave of sightings prompted a sharp political response.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of engaging in hybrid warfare designed to 'sow division' within Europe – though she stopped short of attributing every incident to Moscow.
After the shooting down of Russian drones, NATO launched a new mission to bolster the defence of Europe's eastern flank, its Secretary-General, Mark Rutte said.
'It's reckless and unacceptable. We can't have Russian drones entering allied airspace,' Rutte added, announcing operation 'Eastern Sentry'.
The mission involved a range of assets integrating air and ground bases.
The announcement came as Russia and Belarus launched a major joint military.
The Zapad ('West') 2025 drills were held in Russia and Belarus, on the border with NATO's eastern flank.
Moscow's Defence Ministry said the exercise were to be held on the Russian territory, as well as the Baltic and the Barents Seas.