Greek F-16 fighter jets intercepted a Turkish drone near Alexandroupolis airport as it approached the runway just when a passenger plane was attempting to take off. This was reported on Friday by the AFP news agency, citing several coordinated sources.
A Turkish drone “illegally entered” Greek airspace near the city of Alexandroupolis in the northeast of the country, “provoking an immediate mobilization of air forces”, according to public broadcaster ERTnews. A Greek military source confirmed the incident to AFP.
“The device moved to a point near the runway of Alexandroupolis airport at the very moment when a passenger plane was attempting to take off”, reported ERTnews, calling the situation “particularly alarming”. Greek F-16s, which were on combat alert, scrambled immediately and within minutes closed in on the Turkish drone, identified it and intercepted it.
Reaction to the incident and violation statistics
The fighters’ actions “resulted in the drone leaving Greek airspace”. According to the public broadcaster, the drone exited the airspace over the area of the Greek island of Samothraki. The incident did not affect the safety of the flight at Alexandroupolis airport. As a precaution, the passenger plane used a different runway and took off normally for Athens International Airport.
“This is not a serious incident”, a military source told AFP. The source said the case falls under the “daily incidents and interceptions” carried out by the Greek army “in the northeast or southeast of the Aegean Sea“.
Violations of Greek airspace by Turkish aircraft have again become common in 2026. They are concentrated in the Aegean Sea and are now mainly conducted with drones, according to data from the Ministry of Defense. After recording zero violations in 2024, the number rose to 225 in 2025 and, as of early August 2026, reached 433. Many of these incursions involve various types of drones, both armed and unarmed. Greek authorities regularly protest these breaches of national airspace.
Source: BFMTV
