Editorial pack · DroneLedger
Oslo Airport closed for hours after reported drone sightings; later reporting says a detection system was down
Current state
On the night of 22 September 2025, Oslo Airport closed its airspace after reports of drone observations near Gardermoen. Several flights were diverted and the airspace reopened at about 03:20 on 23 September. A later Dagbladet report says it is still not publicly known whether drones were actually observed, and that a drone detection system at the airport was down at the time.
Evidence states
| Drone presence | inconclusive · sources [1], [2], [3] |
|---|---|
| Impact | confirmed · sources [1], [2] |
| Attribution | none · sources none |
Norway's airport operator Avinor said the airspace was closed for several hours and several flights were diverted, including one that was rerouted to Copenhagen. The closure came on the same night as the drone-related closure of Copenhagen Airport.
The closure and diversions are reported by Avinor via NRK and by the European Broadcasting Union's fact-checking desk, which rated that only official statements confirm a drone sighting near Oslo airport. Dagbladet reports that a drone detection system was down when the possible observations were made and that Avinor confirmed this to another outlet, saying it contributed to the closure.
Claims
3 sources · 5 original statements. Sources that repeat the same statement count once.
| Claim and source passage | Original source | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Avinor said the airport's airspace was closed for several hours after drones were detected nearby. “The airport’s airspace was closed for several hours after drones were detected nearby, Avinor, Norway’s air operator, told NRK on Tuesday.” [2] | Avinor, Norway's airport operator (relayed) | supports: Confirms the closure. The statement says drones were detected, but later reporting questions whether any were observed. |
| The airport director said patrols spotted luminous objects moving in the sky. “said patrols spotted “luminous objects moving in the sky.”” [1] | Oslo Airport director (relayed) | supports: A visual sighting by airport patrols, not a technical detection; the objects were not identified. |
| Dagbladet reported that it is still not publicly known whether drones were observed over Gardermoen. “Det er fortsatt ikke offentlig kjent om det ble observert droner eller ei.” [3] | Dagbladet | contradicts: The quote is in Norwegian, in the original wording, and was published on 10 October 2025. It undermines treating the sighting as a confirmed drone. |
| Avinor confirmed to another outlet that its detection system was down when the possible observations were made and that this contributed to the closure. “Avinor bekrefter imidlertid overfor Filter Nyheter at deres system var nede da de mulige droneobservasjonene ble gjort, og at det medvirket til stengingen av luftrommet.” [3] | Avinor, as reported by Dagbladet (relayed) | context: Second-hand report of an Avinor statement to Filter Nyheter, in Norwegian. The cause of the system outage is unknown. |
| Russia has denied involvement in the drone activity that shut the Copenhagen and Oslo airports. “Russia has denied involvement in the drone activity that shut Copenhagen and Oslo airports” [1] | Russian government (relayed) | context: Covers both airports; the cited sources name no party for the Oslo reports. |
Not established
Whether drones were present at all. Dagbladet reported in October that it is still not publicly known whether drones were observed, and the police district investigating said information about airport systems is classified. Who operated any drones is unknown. Police detained two people that night for unauthorised drone flying in central Oslo; a police attorney said that case appears unrelated to the airport.
No one has been identified as responsible in the cited sources. Russia has denied involvement in the drone activity that closed the Copenhagen and Oslo airports.
Chronology
- 22 Sep 2025: Airport patrols reported luminous objects in the sky; traffic was redirected to another runway, then further sightings led to a full closure of the airspace around midnight. [1]
- 23 Sep 2025: Avinor reopened the airspace by about 03:22 local time. [1]
- 23 Sep 2025: Police in Oslo said they had detained two people overnight in connection with unauthorised drone flights in the city centre; a police attorney said the case appears unrelated to the airport incidents. [2]
- 10 Oct 2025: Dagbladet reported that a drone detection system was down at the time and that it is still not publicly known whether drones were observed. [3]
Sources
- European Broadcasting Union Spotlight: How Drones Shut Down Copenhagen/Oslo Airports (2025-09-23, source family: avinor)
https://spotlight.ebu.ch/p/drone-sightings-close-copenhagen - Kyiv Post: Drone Sightings Force Flight Suspensions at Copenhagen, Oslo Airports (2025-09-23, source family: avinor)
https://www.kyivpost.com/amp/post/60650 - Dagbladet: Dronesystem var nede (drone detection system was down) (2025-10-10, source family: dagbladet)
https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/dronesystem-var-nede/83630989
How to cite
DroneLedger. “Oslo Airport closed for hours after reported drone sightings; later reporting says a detection system was down.” Dossier oslo-gardermoen-closure-2025-09-22, revision 1, updated 12 Oct 2026. https://droneincidents.com/incident/oslo-gardermoen-closure-2025-09-22/v1/
Editorial changes
- Revision 1 (2026-10-12): Curated dossier created after checking the cited sources line by line.
Evidence states: confirmed = established by the cited evidence; reported = stated by a source, not independently established; inconclusive; debunked; unknown. A claim by a party to a conflict remains a claim. Methodology: https://droneincidents.com/methodology/