Norwergian airport targeted by drones 'so close that the control tower could see them'

Drones have flown so close to a Norwegeian airport that air traffic staff were able to observe them from the control tower, according to reports. Drones were spotted near Brønnøysund Airport, a small regional hub in the far north of Norway, on Tuesday evening - just two days after drone sightings at the airport caused disruption on Sunday.

Norwegian media reports that drones could be seen from the airport's tower at 9.50pm local time. It is the latest incident involving unathorised drones and airports in Norway. Airspace around Norway's Oslo airport was closed for around three hours last Monday after a drone was seen near the airport, leading to travel chaos.

Denmark has too been affected by a series of incidents involving drones, with sightings over a number of airports and military sites.

Copenhagen airport was among those affected and had to suspend operations for four hours on September 22, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen saying Russia could be responsible - a claim Moscow has denied.

Norwegian Police were reportedly called to Brønnøysund Airport at around 8.15pm on Tuesday but a search for a possible drone pilot or pilots was unsuccessful.

Morten Sørensen, from Nordland Police District, told Norwegian publication NRK News: "We have ended the search with the police resources we had in the area.

"We had observations of the drone in the air, but we were unable to locate any pilot associated with this drone. So after a time-consuming search, we have ended the search at the scene."

The operator of Brønnøysund Airport told NRK that the final flight landed as planned and the airport is closed for the evening, with it set to open as usual tomorrow morning.

Drones were also observed within the airport's no-fly zone on Sunday, causing a flight to be diverted.

Denmark's defence minister last week called the drone incidents in his country a "hybrid attack".

Speaking on Thursday, Troels Lund Poulsen said it appeared a "professional actor" was behind the "systematic" flights.