Drone Shuts Down Palma de Mallorca Airport, Stranding Tourists

On October 19, operations at Palma de Mallorca Airport in Spain were temporarily suspended due to an unauthorized drone (UAV) appearing in the airspace. Spain's air navigation authority, Enaire, immediately suspended all takeoffs and landings for safety reasons.

As a result of the incident, about a dozen flights bound for Palma were diverted to other airports, including Barcelona and Valencia. Airport operations resumed around 8 PM, but due to the backlog, many flights were delayed by up to 90 minutes.

As Mallorca is a popular destination for British tourists, a significant portion of those affected were UK citizens. Dozens of Britons had to wait for hours in crowded terminals, expressing their dissatisfaction with the lack of information.

It should be noted that Spanish law strictly prohibits drone flights within a 5 km radius of airports. This is a growing problem for European aviation, with similar incidents recently recorded at airports in Munich, Frankfurt, and elsewhere. Spanish authorities have launched an investigation to find the drone operator and clarify the details of the incident.