Germany is drawing up plans to prepare its airspace in case it needs to be defended.

2025-12-10 08:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Germany is drawing up plans to prepare its airspace in case it needs to be

Germany has one of the busiest airspaces in the world and would have to close in the event of an attack against the country or another NATO ally.

Germany is drawing up plans to quickly prepare its airspace if the country needs to defend itself, the air navigation service provider told Euronews.

"We are currently working with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Transport on a catalogue of requirements to prepare for a defence case," Arndt Schoenemann, chairman and CEO of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, which oversees Germany's airspace, told Euronews.

"There are three levels of defense. The first level is that there is only a threat. The second level is that we have a defense case under NATO's Article 5, and the third case is defense of the country."

"For these three cases we are developing different requirements and are obliged to fulfill them according to a clear master plan," he added.

After decades of underinvestment, Germany is now massively increasing its defense spending with the aim of becoming Europe's strongest military.

Berlin's decision was prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and warnings from its intelligence agency that Moscow could test NATO's Article 5 with an attack on a member state before the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, the military alliance has adopted regional defense plans to ensure the rapid deployment of allied forces in the event of an attack, while the European Union has presented numerous packages to increase the production and procurement of defense equipment and facilitate military mobility across the 27-nation bloc.

Lack of awareness

Germany has one of the busiest airspaces in the world, with around 3 million flights passing through it in peak years - up to 10,000 every day. DFS, which is a state-owned company, manages all of the country's airspace.

However, one of the main challenges for the company, Schoenemann said, is that many civilian players and operators are not aware that airspace may need to be temporarily redefined to accommodate military mobility.

"Airlines, civil airlines or airports are very far from thinking that we could get into a scenario like this where we have military activities in the country," he said. "And that's something we need to work on, so that they know exactly what's going on in the event that the airspace is going to be closed and so on."

The DFS is currently offering information sessions to explain what measures are likely to be taken./ CNA