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Dangerous unknowns 

Unauthorised drone flights at airports have repeatedly led to flight cancellations, delays and enormous economic damage. Most importantly, drones flying close to manned air traffic endanger the lives of passengers and aircraft crews.  

Drones at airports 

Every year, DFS logs a large number of drones that disrupt air traffic in the vicinity of airports. In the event of drone sightings in the vicinity of airports, air traffic controllers follow defined procedures. These procedures may stipulate that no take-off and landing clearances are to be issued for safety reasons. Frequent consequences of this are delays, diversions or flight cancellations.

To counteract such limitations on air traffic, DFS is supporting the relevant security authorities in the introduction of efficient drone detection and defence systems. DFS is also working with airports and the security authorities to develop new procedures for dealing with unauthorised drone flights at airports.

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