On Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, an unidentified object, alongside the discovery of a drone, caused disruption and flight delays in Leipzig-Halle Airport (LEJ), Germany. The object crashed into a passing cargo plane and a drone was found after an airport staff member discovered it on the airport’s south runway.
Unidentified object
The discovery of the drone lead to the Saxon State Police deploying a bomb disposal robot, which led to the bomb being swiftly removed and destroyed. A second unidentified object that struck a passing DHL Aviation cargo aircraft was uncovered after the plane failed to land as a subsequence of the runway being closed. Later on, when the plane did manage to land securely in Hannover Airport (HAJ), there was limited damage to the cargo jet found.
Disruptions due to this incident quickly followed as flight operations were temporarily halted at LEJ. Many other freight planes were made to diverge routes and land at other regional airports. One passenger plane – a Marabu Airlines Flight DI 6777 with an Airbus A320neo arriving from Palma de Mallorca – was diverted to Nuremberg Airport (NUE).
Disruptions
Both the north and south runways were made off-limits when the incident first occurred. However, following on from a thorough safety check, the north and south runways have been reopened. The north runway reopened after two hours of closure and the south was reinstated the next day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. Flights with airlines such as Marabu, SunExpress, Lufthansa, Corendon and Pegasus, are still operative according to Leipzig-Halle Airport’s arrivals and departures board and there are no confirmed delays of departures.
Leipzig-Halle Airport is a major cargo hub that has been the subject of many incidences in recent years. Another incident involving a DHL Aviation aircraft was a shipment container that caught on fire, which took place in July 2024, when a full out mid-air fire was prevented by a delay.
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