Berlin Brandenburg Airport installs drone-detection system
A new system at BER will monitor drone activity near runways and notify authorities after a rise in sightings.
Germany's aviation authority has activated a drone-detection system at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), the country's Ministry of Transport announced. The installation is intended to provide earlier warnings of drone activity in runway areas and to alert authorities to risks to air traffic.
Purpose and immediate effect
The system is designed to detect drones in takeoff and landing zones and to notify responsible agencies so they can respond quickly to potential threats to flight operations. The ministry said the move responds to a rise in sightings of drones near German airports.
Germany's Transport Minister Steffen Bilger, speaking at BER late on Tuesday, said: "We take very seriously the growing threat that drones around airports pose." He stressed the importance of rapid reaction and of equipping international airports in Germany with drone-detection technology.
According to data provided by the national air navigation service, BER recorded 28 drone sightings in the first six months of the year — one more than Frankfurt, Germany's largest airport.
In seven of those cases at BER, flight operations had to be temporarily suspended.
The ministry said it expects other international airports across Germany to be fitted with similar detection systems in their takeoff and landing zones over the course of the year.
Photo: press material from the event
