German national airline Lufthansa has been illegally transporting missile components through Dublin Airport to the Thales arms factory in Belfast for the past year.
The goods were described as “light anti-tank weapon” parts for use in Thales-made NLAW missiles, according to shipping records seen by The Ditch.
The British government has sent thousands of Belfast-manufactured NLAWs to Ukraine since Russia illegally invaded it in February 2022.
First minister Michelle O’Neill said in March this year that she was “incredulous” at a British government deal for Thales’s Belfast factory to produce defence missiles for Ukraine.
The first flight identified by The Ditch took place on 13 September, 2024 from Frankfurt Airport to Dublin Airport.
The Lufthansa aircraft was transporting 140 “wiring-harnesses” for “light anti-tank weapons” originating in Poland for delivery to the Thales Air Defence factory in East Belfast.
A wiring harness is an assembly of electrical wires that transmit signals or electrical power.
The Ditch has identified a further six Lufthansa flights this year that were illegally transporting the same military goods from Frankfurt to Dublin.
The most recent flight carried 150 kilogrammes of anti-tank missile components from Germany to Ireland on 6 August.
It’s a criminal offence to transport munitions of war without authorisation from the transport minister.
In response to a parliamentary question from People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, transport minister Darragh O’Brien confirmed that Lufthansa was not authorised to transport the munitions of war.
“To date in 2025, no exemptions have been granted to Lufthansa to permit the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft landing at Dublin Airport,” said O’Brien.
