Closing Airspace for All Civil Drone Flights

In the upcoming week, the airspace over Denmark will be closed for all civil drone flights.

This was announced by the Ministry of Transport on Sunday.

Denmark is hosting the EU summit in the coming week, and in order to fully focus on security, it has been decided, based on recent drone activities, to close the airspace for all civil drone flights from Monday to Friday. The ban is in effect 24 hours a day.

The decision was made by Minister of Transport Thomas Danielsen in consultation with the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Justice.

-“We cannot accept that foreign drones create insecurity and disruptions in society, as we have experienced in recent times. At the same time, Denmark is hosting the European Union leaders next week, where we need to have extra focus on security. Therefore, from Monday to Friday, we are closing the Danish airspace to all civil drone flights. This way, we eliminate the risk of hostile drones being mistaken for legal drones and vice versa,” said Minister of Transport Thomas Danielsen.

Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen said:

-“We are currently in a difficult security policy situation, and we need to ensure the best possible working conditions for the Defence and Police when they are responsible for security during the EU summit. An assignment that already requires a significant effort from our authorities, who work around the clock to protect the Danish people and our guests.”

Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard highlighted that the police need to focus where necessary:

-“The police are at a significantly heightened state of readiness, and our authorities must use their efforts where necessary to protect the Danish people and our guests. The purpose of the ban on civil drone flights is, among other things, to simplify the security work for the police, so they do not have to use resources on civilian drones without security and police relevance.”

Violation of the ban may result in a fine or imprisonment of up to two years.

The ban does not apply to military drone flights, state air operations with drones, including police and emergency drone operations, as well as municipal and regional emergency and health-related drone operations.

Furthermore, in connection with the ban, there will be an option to apply for an exemption from the Danish Transport Authority for drone flights in very special cases, for example, if there are urgent tasks of societal importance carried out by commercial operators, as stated by the Ministry of Transport.

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