Leipzig/Halle Airport northern runway closes after fence breach

Two Syrian men turned themselves in to German police on Monday and said an unlicensed driving exercise, not an attack, caused a hole found in the perimeter fence at Leipzig/Halle Airport over the weekend, broadcaster n-tv reported.

One of the men, who had no driving licence, was behind the wheel when he lost control of the car, causing it to break through the fence near a public road, police said. The vehicle has been seized and the investigation continues.

The damage was discovered just before 11pm on Saturday, prompting a large police operation that closed the airport's northern runway overnight. Officers using a helicopter and drone technology searched the site but did not find the vehicle or anyone unauthorised on the grounds at the time. Passenger and cargo flights continued on the airport's second runway throughout, an airport spokesperson said; the northern runway reopened on Sunday afternoon once the area had been declared safe.

Airport spokesman Uwe Schuhart said the damaged fence section lies along a public road that includes an emergency access gate used during major airport exercises; the gate itself was undamaged, only the fence. Three Russian Antonov cargo aircraft, grounded at the airport since 2022 under EU sanctions, are stationed in the same northern area, though not immediately next to the breach, he said. Up to six Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes are based in the airport's southern area.

The breach initially revived memories of an attempted drone attack at the same airport on 4 August, when explosive-laden drone parts were found near Ukrainian transport aircraft; Germany's interior minister accused Russia of responsibility for that incident, which Moscow denied. Police said it remains unclear whether that earlier case is linked to the latest fence breach, though the new account from the two men offers an explanation for this weekend's incident separate from any sabotage attempt.