Flights from the UK and Ireland to Spain were diverted on Sunday night after a drone was spotted near a runway at Malaga Airport, forcing air traffic controllers to suspend landings for over 50 minutes. The disruption affected services from London, Birmingham, Bristol and Cork, highlighting growing concerns about drone incursions disrupting European airspace and airport operations.

The drone was seen near runway 12 at around 9pm, with Spain's air navigation manager Enaire ordering a temporary suspension of operations for safety reasons. Eight flights in total were diverted, seven to Seville and one to Alicante, before the Civil Guard ruled out any security risk by 9.35pm and operations gradually resumed. The incident follows a string of similar disruptions across Europe in recent months, including an explosive-laden drone found at Leipzig Halle Airport in Germany, a suspected sighting that halted flights at Munich Airport, and airspace violations that suspended air traffic at Vilnius in Lithuania.