(MENAFN) Air traffic operations at a Belgian aviation hub restarted Friday morning following a brief shutdown triggered by unauthorized drone activity near the facility's FedEx cargo operations.

The disruption commenced at 6:56 a.m. local time (0556GMT) after an unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted in airspace surrounding the airport in Liege—a city positioned approximately 95 kilometers (59 miles) from Brussels—according to daily La Libre, citing air navigation authority Skeyes.

Liege Airport stated the operational impact remained "very limited."

The latest breach represents the third incident this week. Flight operations at Liege Airport experienced temporary suspensions Tuesday and Thursday evenings following drone detections, while parallel occurrences also disrupted Brussels Airport.

Recent months have witnessed a cascade of drone infiltrations across multiple European nations, frequently targeting airports or defense installations, including a Belgian military installation this week.

Certain European authorities have attributed the incidents to Russia, connecting them to hybrid warfare tactics and the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Moscow, however, has firmly denied any involvement.

Police Drone Operations Ruled Unlawful
In separate developments, law enforcement in the Brussels Capital-Ixelles district executed 144 surveillance drone missions between April and June as part of an experimental initiative managed by a private contractor.

A Le Soir investigation revealed that the Police Information Control Body (COC) concluded the program violated legal standards because a commercial entity could have potentially accessed or processed police data.

Law enforcement officials countered that the three-month testing period had already concluded by the time it received the COC's notification, adding that "no data collection or processing" occurred during the 144 flights.

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