Germany's Nuremberg airport has suspended all flight operations after a plane appeared to signal it was being hijacked, local police have said.
The flight was reportedly travelling from the Greek island of Corfu and was due to land when the operation took place after a ‘7500’ squawk - the international code for unlawful interference - was sent between 8:15 and 8:28am UTC (9:15 and 9:28am BST).
Corendon Airlines has insisted the signal was sent in error and was the result of a malfunction in the radio communication system, in a statement given to Sky News.
“From the cockpit, the code ‘7500’ (hijacking case) was transmitted, and the pilot could no longer be reached by radio,” police said on X. “For safety reasons, various alarm scrambles were then triggered.”
In a statement on its website, the airport earlier did not specify the reason for the suspension of flights, and said more information would follow.
Eurofighter jets were deployed to escort the aircraft, an airport spokesperson said, adding that the military planes have since returned to base, according to German publication Nordbayern.
The airline, which says it carries around six million passengers annually, made clear that there was no emergency situation and that passengers and the aircraft was not in danger at any point.
It comes after suspected drone sightings had disrupted air traffic at the airport overnight into Tuesday between 2am and 4am, according to Bild. Three pilots independently reported seeing an object during takeoff or landing.
Border police, airport management and German air traffic control conducted a security sweep with takeoffs and landings halted as a precaution.
“The measures carried out, which included among other things a police helicopter, did not lead to the verification of the reported object,” police spokesperson Michael Petzold said.
“The Nuremberg border police inspectorate is now conducting further investigations to clarify the events.”
The airport is one of Germany’s busiest, and is the second-busiest in Bavaria after Munich. Around four million passengers pass through its terminals every year.
The incident comes two months after a drone carrying an explosive device was found at Leipzig Airport, which Germany blamed on Russia. The explosive-laden drone, which was defused, had prompted a counterterrorism investigation and fears of another hybrid attack.
Authorities identified two suspects in connection with the incident.
One Russian national from Belarus and a Russian-born Latvian national were suspected to have been responsible, according to the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which collaborated on the report with broadcasters NDR and WDR.
It underpinned allegations by the German government, which said that Russia had been behind the incident, resulting in a series of orders being issued in response including the closure of a consulate and a Russian cultural centre in the country.
“Berlin has deliberately engaged in a blatant provocation aimed at escalating tensions in Russian-German relations. The German authorities' actions will be met with a firm response,” the ministry said in a statement at the time.
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