Damaged fence prompts major police operation at Leipzig/Halle, north runway closed

A damaged security fence at Leipzig/Halle airport triggered a large police operation overnight into Sunday, according to a federal police spokesperson cited by local media. The hole in the perimeter was spotted shortly before 23:00 at a section without video surveillance.

Tyre tracks in the soft ground suggested a car had driven into the fence. Police said it was unclear whether the vehicle was driven deliberately or whether the driver lost control and fled after the crash.

The breach was on the northern side of the airport, where three Antonov An-124 freighters of the Russian carrier Volga-Dnepr have been parked since 2022 because of EU sanctions. The distance from the hole to that area is roughly two kilometres, according to the Leipziger Volkszeitung.

The north runway was closed to air traffic, with departures and arrivals switched to the south runway. Police searched the airport grounds and surrounding area, including with a helicopter. The aim included ruling out that unauthorised people were on the site or had left objects there.

In August, a drone fitted with explosives was found on the southern side of the airport next to An-124 aircraft belonging to Ukraine's Antonov Airlines. Antonov Airlines is also building a new hangar on the northern side of the site.