On the morning of May 15, air traffic at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport was suspended for several hours following reports of a drone entering Finnish airspace. Authorities had issued warnings about a potentially hazardous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Uusimaa region.
Emergency services from the Ministry of the Interior advised the public to seek shelter in secure locations. According to reports from Yle, Finnish Air Force Hornet fighter jets were deployed to patrol the skies over Uusimaa and near Helsinki.
The closure of airspace resulted in the cancellation of multiple morning flights. Several aircraft en route to Helsinki were redirected to airports in Stockholm, Rovaniemi, and Tallinn.
Notably, a direct flight to Berlin was rescheduled from 7:05 AM to 1:45 PM, with a layover in Tallinn. One of two flights arriving from Tokyo was diverted to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, while the other landed in Rovaniemi. Additionally, a flight from Osaka also arrived in Rovaniemi.
Rovaniemi Airport is often used as an alternate landing site for flights crossing the North Pole, as aircraft enter Finnish airspace through Lapland.
Flights from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaga were similarly redirected to Stockholm. By 7 AM, authorities announced that the threat had passed and the airspace was reopened.
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport experienced a temporary closure due to a drone alert, leading to multiple flight cancellations and diversions. The situation was resolved by mid-morning, allowing air traffic to resume.