It was a plane that observed a drone at Sola airport outside Stavanger, which led to the closure of the airspace shortly after 8:30 pm on Sunday evening. At 9.40pm Avinor announces that it is open again.
Updated only now
– I can confirm that a drone was observed at Stavanger airport. It was observed from a plane taking off. So we will immediately close the airspace as a security measure, until police and air traffic controllers together assess that the situation is under control, Avinor spokesman Harald Kvam told VG at 9.05pm.
It is forbidden to fly a drone less than five kilometers from airports in Norway.
The closure of the airspace leads to delays and canceled flights both in and out of Sola airport.
The same goes for Haugesund airport in Karmøy, Avinor informs VG.
The airspace was also closed there, because the distance between Haugesund and Stavanger is relatively short and the drone must have been observed overhead.
At 21.40 Avinor reports that the airspace is open again.
The drone shouldn’t have been found.
The article is up to date.
Avinor says any drone flying within the ban limit is a police matter.
Police told VG that they were not currently looking for drone operators, or drones, because they had no further information on which to proceed.
On Twitter they write that “The police tried to make remarks, but without success”.
They also write that they have nothing more concrete to pursue.
Operations manager Irene Ragnhildstveit says the airspace has been closed on the basis of a drone observation, but says they can neither confirm nor deny whether there was a drone at the site.
Police turn to Avinor with questions about the decision to close the airspace. They do not want to say anything about the measures taken.
In recent days, two Russians were arrested in Norway with drones. One was returning to Russia via the Storskog border crossing in Finnmark. The other was stopped at Tromsø airport.
The latter is said to have shot at the airport, among other things.
In recent months, there has been a total ban on Russians using drones in Norway.
The identity of the drone operator who has now piloted a drone at Sola airport is not yet known.
Police have asked Norwegians to pay more attention to drones and other activities that might seem suspicious in the south near electrical installations and defense structures.
