Helsinki Airport Suspends Flights over Drone Threat

Helsinki Airport temporarily suspended air traffic operations for three hours on Friday after authorities detected a suspected drone threat in southern Finland.

According to officials, the disruption was triggered by security concerns involving an unmanned aerial vehicle spotted in the Uusimaa region near the Finnish capital.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo confirmed that security measures were immediately activated, stating that the Finnish Defense Forces deployed surveillance and counter-threat capabilities in response to the incident.

The Finnish Interior Ministry later announced that the drone threat had been fully neutralized, allowing airport operations to resume.

Airport authorities said flights restarted normally at around 7am local time after operations had been suspended since 4am following the security alert.

Despite the reopening, airport management warned that the disruption would likely cause delays and cancellations throughout Friday, with morning interruptions expected to affect both arriving and departing flights later in the day.

Officials have not released further details regarding the nature of the drone threat or how it was resolved.