Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ) partially suspended flight operations overnight from August 4 to August 5, 2026, after police responded to reports of an unidentified flying object and a suspicious item found near the airport’s south runway, the Leipzig police directorate (Polizeidirektion Leipzig) said in a statement.
Police said the flying object was first sighted around 23:40 local time on August 4, prompting several aircraft, including one passenger flight, to divert to other airports. Marabu Airlines flight DI6777, an Airbus A320neo arriving from Palma de Mallorca (PMI), was diverted to Nuremberg Airport (NUE).
Officers later found an object near the south runway, which federal police (Bundespolizei) examined using a bomb disposal robot.
Flight operations resumed on the north runway at 01:55 on August 5, though the south runway remained closed as investigations continued.
Cargo jet diverted after mid-air collision
A DHL-operated cargo aircraft collided with an unidentified object near Leipzig airport and diverted for an emergency landing in Hanover, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the incident.
“We’ve got plans for cases like this, and we’ll try to make sure that the influence on our customers will be as low as possible,” DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said during the company’s Q2 2026 investor call on August 5, 2026.
Although authorities have not identified the aircraft publicly, flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 indicate that the damaged aircraft may have been EAT Leipzig Airbus A300 freighter D-AZML, operating fight BCS7JG from Madrid (MAD).
German media reported the collision occurred roughly six kilometers from the airport at an altitude of about 400 meters, and that the aircraft sustained minor damage to its nose section.
Police in Lower Saxony classified the incident as a state security offense and have not ruled out sabotage, Bild reported. Authorities in Saxony and Lower Saxony are investigating in parallel, working alongside federal police.
Object found near Ukrainian Antonov aircraft
Citing security sources, German tabloid Bild reported that the object was a drone carrying a package fitted with a detonator, found close to a parked Antonov Airlines An-124 freighter.
Investigators were treating the find as a possible explosive device, though it remained unclear by the afternoon of August 5, 2026, whether a controlled detonation had been carried out.
Antonov Airlines relocated most of its An-124 freighter fleet to Leipzig/Halle after fighting at Hostomel Airport near Kyiv in 2022 devastated its home base and destroyed the unique Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft. The Ukrainian carrier continues to operate from the German airport.
Contacted by AeroTime, Antonov Airlines declined to comment.
German authorities are investigating what appears to have been an attempted explosive drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport after a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered near Ukrainian cargo aircraft, according to BILD.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 5, 2026
BILD reports the drone was found late Tuesday… pic.twitter.com/C3Y6GEfakz
Part of a wider pattern
The incident adds to a string of unauthorized drone sightings that have disrupted European military sites, energy terminals, seaports, and logistics hubs in recent months, which several police forces have said could involve Russian agents, an allegation Moscow denies.
A recent IISS assessment found Russian-linked drone activity has forced closures at major European hubs, including Munich, Copenhagen, and Vilnius, over the past 18 months.
Leipzig/Halle, Germany’s second-largest cargo airport and a major DHL hub, has featured in security investigations before: a 2024 plot to plant incendiary devices in packages transiting through the airport remains the subject of an ongoing criminal trial in Germany.