Drones paralyze EU airports — Ryanair CEO demands they be shot down

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has sharply criticized the European response to unauthorized drone intrusions into airspace and said that drones that disrupt airport operations “should be shot down.”

He expressed these ideas in an interview with Politico.

• O’Leary stressed that he considers the idea of a “drone wall” — an EU project to create a multi-layered system for detecting and intercepting UAVs — to be ineffective, and questioned the ability of European leaders to adequately protect aviation from such threats.

• During the interview, O’Leary also harshly criticized the EU leadership, stating that he “does not trust” the leaders and directly accusing European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of inefficiency, adding that she “should resign.”

O’Leary’s comments came amid a series of drone incidents that caused temporary airport closures in Poland and Denmark in September and heightened concerns about “hybrid” threats from Russia.

A number of countries and aviation authorities have already stepped up their response measures, with some countries even resorting to shooting down drones in response to airspace violations.

Read more: Russia’s GPS and GNSS interference disrupts flights: airlines and authorities respond