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Berlin Brandenburg Airport suspended all takeoffs and landings for nearly two hours on Friday evening, September 25, 2026, after a drone was sighted near the airfield, and airport spokesman Axel Schmidt told the Tagesspiegel that operations stopped at 8:08 p.m. and resumed at 9:58 p.m. local time.
If you are flying through Berlin this weekend, check your flight status before leaving for the airport, because about 15 to 20 inbound flights diverted to other German cities and several evening departures could not take off at all. Drivers heading into the city face a second disruption, since Berlin marathon road closures across Mitte on September 26 and 27 are diverting buses and closing major streets through Sunday.
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The Tagesspiegel account, built on direct statements from Schmidt and Brandenburg police, reports the drone was first seen over the B69 road near the Holiday Inn hotel before flying toward Wassmannsdorf, which forced the closure of the southern runway. The Associated Press, citing German news agency dpa and the airport, confirms the 8:08 p.m. to 9:58 p.m. shutdown and adds that normal service had returned by Saturday morning.
- What happened: Drone sighting halted BER takeoffs and landings Friday, September 25, 8:08 p.m. to 9:58 p.m. local time.
- Current status: Regular operations resumed Saturday, September 26, with no remaining restrictions, Schmidt said.
- Flights affected: About 15 to 20 arrivals diverted; departures to Basel, Oslo and Barcelona among those grounded.
- Backlog plan: Aviation authority granted a night exemption so takeoffs ran to 2 a.m. and landings ran all night.
- Investigation: Police confirmed the sighting but did not find the drone; police say the operator is unknown.
Friday Night Timeline at BER
Schmidt told the Tagesspiegel that Berlin police and airport security responded together once the drone was reported, and air traffic stayed shut through the full police operation. The airport confirmed the airspace reopened at 9:58 p.m., and Schmidt said service has run normally ever since.
Saturday morning brought a clean restart. Schmidt told the paper there were no remaining disruptions, a statement backed by normal readings on the airport arrival and departure boards. Ground operations never stopped, so aircraft servicing and baggage handling continued through the airspace closure.
Diverted Flights and Grounded Departures
During the shutdown the airport sent Berlin bound arrivals to alternate airports across northern and central Germany. Four aircraft diverted to Dresden and four to Leipzig, while Hamburg, Bremen and Hanover also took diverted flights, with inbound services from Stockholm, Antalya, Helsinki and Brussels among those rerouted.
One Brussels flight diverted to Bremen told its story through a passenger account: the aircraft left at 9 p.m. and an announcement about 45 minutes later informed travelers of the diversion because of the drone sighting. Outbound travelers fared no better, since departures for Basel, Oslo and Barcelona were among the flights that could not start.
Night Flight Exemption Clears the Backlog
BER normally bans scheduled flights between midnight and 5 a.m., so a two hour evening shutdown threatened to strand hundreds of passengers overnight. The aviation supervisory authority answered with an exemption that let aircraft take off until 2 a.m. while landings continued through the whole night.
Five departing aircraft used the extended takeoff window, Schmidt said, which kept the backlog from spilling into Saturday schedules. The exemption shows how the airport protects morning operations after an evening disruption, and it explains why Saturday service could restart without inherited delays.
Second BER Drone Shutdown in Three Days
Friday was not the first such stoppage of the week. On Wednesday evening, September 23, a drone near the northern runway closed BER airspace from 8:20 p.m. to 9:05 p.m., about 45 minutes, and several arrivals diverted to Dresden and Leipzig before Thursday morning service normalized with residual delays.
The repeat closures fit a national pattern. Air traffic controllers logged 28 drones at BER in the first half of 2026 alone and stopped arrivals and departures seven times, against eight drone reports in all of 2025, according to dpa figures. Munich Airport also closed twice in under 24 hours in August 2026 over drone sightings, the Associated Press reported.
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What Berlin Travelers Should Do Now
Saturday operations are normal, but anyone ticketed on a flight that diverted Friday should confirm the rebooked arrival airport and onward ground transport, since diverted aircraft do not always position back to Berlin the same night. Keep boarding passes and delay notices, because European air passenger rights link compensation and care to the length and cause of a delay.
Sunday shapes up as the busiest test of the recovery, with the airport expecting about 100,000 passengers amid the return wave after the autumn school holidays. Travelers driving into Berlin should also plan around the marathon street closures in Mitte, which run through Sunday alongside normal weekend transit demand.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Flew Friday evening and were diverted to Dresden, Leipzig, Hamburg, Bremen or Hanover | Confirm with your airline whether your return leg or onward connection still departs from Berlin on its original schedule. |
| Missed a Friday departure to Basel, Oslo, Barcelona or another evening destination | Check the rebooking the airline issued overnight, since five delayed departures used the 2 a.m. takeoff exemption. |
| Fly out of BER on Sunday, September 27 | Arrive with extra time and check status the morning of travel, with 100,000 passengers expected on the holiday return wave. |
| Drive into central Berlin this weekend | Read the marathon closure plan for Mitte before choosing a route, since September 26 and 27 street closures overlap airport trips. |
Friday 8:08 p.m. to 9:58 p.m. is the disruption window. If your itinerary touches a flight scheduled in that span, verify its actual arrival or departure airport rather than assuming Berlin.
Saturday normal ops is the recovery signal. New bookings for Saturday onward can proceed, but keep monitoring status because drone investigations can close airspace again with little notice.
Sunday volume is the pressure point. With holiday return traffic peaking, rebook earlier in the day where possible so a new disruption still leaves same day alternatives.
Is Berlin Brandenburg Airport open now?
Yes. Airport spokesman Axel Schmidt told the Tagesspiegel that regular operations resumed Saturday, September 26, with no remaining restrictions after the Friday night drone shutdown.
How long did the September 25 BER drone closure last?
Takeoffs and landings stopped at 8:08 p.m. and resumed at 9:58 p.m. local time, just under two hours, after police and airport security completed their response.
Which flights were diverted from Berlin on September 25?
About 15 to 20 Berlin bound flights diverted, including four each to Dresden and Leipzig plus reroutes to Hamburg, Bremen and Hanover, affecting arrivals from cities such as Stockholm, Antalya, Helsinki and Brussels.
Who flew the drone over BER?
That remains unknown. A witness called police after seeing the drone and a patrol crew also reported seeing it, but the device was never located, and Brandenburg police say the operator is the subject of ongoing investigations.
