19 incidents of drones, UFOs flying around Indian airports since 2019: Govt

There have been 19 incidents of drones or unidentified flying objects (UFOs) flying around Indian airports since 2019, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday.

According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the number of cases wherein drones or UFOs were detected around airports across the country were 11 in 2019, he said in his written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

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There was no incident of drones or UFOs around Indian airports in 2020, he mentioned.

In 2021 and 2022, there were six and two incidents wherein drones or UFOs detected around Indian airports, respectively, he noted.

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"Of the above-mentioned cases, two have been reported in border states or Union Territories -- Surat Airport (Gujarat) on February 2, 2021, and Jammu Airport (Jammu and Kashmir) on June 27, 2021," he mentioned.