According to Euronews, the disruption followed reports around 8 p.m. local time of a drone flying near Brussels Zaventem Airport, said a spokesperson for Skeyes, the state agency in charge of Belgium’s civil airspace.
Earlier the same evening, residents of Peer, a town near the Kleine-Brogel Air Base in eastern Belgium, reported seeing six unidentified drones. Local police who responded confirmed two visual sightings of UAVs, said Peer Mayor Steven Mathei. The ministry of defense has yet to locate the drones. A police helicopter was dispatched to assist.
Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad also reported that several flights bound for Belgium were rerouted to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and Maastricht-Aachen Airport in the Netherlands.
This is the latest in a series of drone sightings near Belgian military sites. On the night of Oct. 3, air traffic controllers detected 15 drones over the Elsenborn training range, a 28-square-kilometer area used for live-fire exercises and drone testing near the German border.