Nuremberg Airport closed as Eurofighters escort Corendon jet

Nuremberg Airport (NUE) suspended all flight operations on 13 October 2026 after authorities received a report of a possible in-flight emergency aboard a Corendon Airlines flight arriving from Corfu, Greece. According to AeroTime, German Air Force Eurofighters escorted the aircraft, which landed safely, while incoming flights were diverted elsewhere.

The Corendon flight

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 registered 9H-CXD, operating Corendon Airlines flight XR456. It was due at about 12:15 local time and touched down at 12:16, according to Flightradar24 data cited by AeroTime. Police cordoned off access roads shortly before landing.

Middle Franconia police said on X that they had received a report of an unclear air emergency, that the aircraft had landed safely and that investigations into the cause were under way. A police spokesperson told the newspaper Nordbayern that officers were working on the assumption of a suspected air emergency, but that this was not yet confirmed.

Squawk 7500 and the Eurofighters

An airport spokesperson told broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk that the aircraft's transponder had reportedly transmitted squawk 7500, the code for a hijacking, during its approach to Nuremberg. AeroTime also cites a Flightradar24 post saying the code was sent between 08:15 and 08:28 UTC during departure from Corfu, so the sources differ on when it was transmitted. The circumstances that triggered it remain unclear.

The German Press Agency (dpa) reported that Eurofighters accompanied the aircraft before landing, and an airport spokesperson confirmed this, adding that the fighters later turned away. AeroTime notes that the Luftwaffe keeps two armed Eurofighters on Quick Reaction Alert at each of two bases, Wittmund and Neuburg an der Donau, required to be airborne within 15 minutes of an alert.

Earlier drone report

Hours earlier, between 02:00 and 04:00 local time, three pilots independently reported an unidentified object during takeoff or landing, which police said could have been a drone. A police helicopter was deployed but the object was not found. According to an airport statement, six flights were delayed, two arrivals and four departures, and two incoming aircraft were briefly diverted to Cologne Bonn and Prague before continuing to Nuremberg. Authorities have not established any link with the later incident.

What this means for travellers

• Eurocontrol listed the airport as closed until 14:00 UTC, but the airport initially gave no indication of when normal operations would resume.
• Several incoming flights were diverted to Frankfurt, Memmingen, Stuttgart and Munich, so passengers may have arrived at a different airport from planned.
• Anyone due to fly to or from Nuremberg should check their airline for rebooking, onward transport and updated times.
• The cause of the alert is not yet confirmed, and sources do not say how many passengers were affected or whether further delays followed.

Sources: AeroTime.