*

More than one drone sighted, police say

*

Aalborg airport also used as military base

*

Three flights diverted to other airports

*

Drones flew in similar pattern as Copenhagen incursion,

police

say

(Adds comments from armed forces in paragraph 4, background in

paragraph 6-8, comments from police in paragraphs 12-18)

By Louise Rasmussen

COPENHAGEN, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Denmark's Aalborg

airport, used for commercial and military flights, was closed

due to drones in its airspace, police said early on Thursday,

two days after the country's main Copenhagen airport was shut

over drone sightings that raised European security concerns.

Danish national police said the drones followed a similar

pattern to the ones that had halted flights at Copenhagen

airport for four hours a few days earlier.

Denmark said on Tuesday the incident at Copenhagen airport

was the most serious attack yet on its critical infrastructure

and linked it to a series of suspected Russian drone incursions

and other disruptions across Europe.

The closure of Aalborg airport also affected Denmark's armed

forces because it is used as a military base, police added. The

Danish armed forces said they were assisting local and national

police with the investigation, but declined to comment further.

Authorities in Norway also shut the airspace at Oslo airport

for three hours on Monday evening after a drone was seen.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on

Tuesday that the drones that halted flights at Copenhagen

airport were part of a "pattern of persistent contestation at

our borders."

Suspicions of Russian involvement in the Copenhagen airport

incident were ungrounded, Russia's ambassador to Denmark said on

Tuesday.

Norwegian and Danish authorities are in close contact

over the Copenhagen and Oslo incidents on Monday but their

investigation has not yet established a connection, Norway's

foreign minister said on Wednesday.

MORE THAN ONE DRONE

Northern Jutland police told reporters that "more than one

drone" had been sighted near Aalborg airport and they were

flying with lights on.

The drones were first sighted at about 9:44 p.m. (1944 GMT)

on Wednesday, according to police, and remained in the airspace

at the time of the press briefing at 12:05 a.m. on Thursday.

Eurocontrol, which oversees European air traffic control,

said arrivals and departures at Aalborg airport would be at a

"zero rate" until 0400 GMT on Thursday due to drone activity in

the vicinity.

Northern Jutland police said they could not specify the type

of drones or whether they were the same as the ones flying over

Copenhagen airport on Monday.

"It is too early to say what the goal of the drones is and

who is the actor behind," a police official said, adding that

they would take down the drones if possible.

Southern Jutland police later said in a post on X that

drones had also been observed near the airports in the Danish

towns of Esberg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup.

Fighter Wing Skrydstrup in Southern Jutland is the base

for Denmark's F-16 and F-35 fighter jets.

National police commissioner Thorkild Fogde said many

people around the country had reported drone sightings to the

police since Monday.

"Of course many of these reports do not cover activities

that are of interest to the police or the military, but some of

them do, and I think the one in Aalborg does," he said.

Police said they were investigating further on site and

cooperating with national intelligence service and the armed

forces, as well as authorities in other countries.

There is no danger to passengers at Aalborg airport or

residents in the area, police said.

They added that three flights had been diverted to other

airports.