Passengers at one of the UK’s busiest airports are experiencing further flight disruption after drones were seen over the airfield. Gatwick’s runway remains closed after two of the devices were seen nearby, sparking a string of delays and diversions on Wednesday evening.
Outbound flights were grounded and incoming planes redirected – with some landing in Paris and Amsterdam.
Passengers due to travel have been told to check the status of their flight.
The airport said police were still hunting for the drone operator after another device was seen nearby just before 07:00 GMT,
European air traffic management group Eurocontrol said the runway would remain closed until 10:00.
The shutdown started just after 21:00, when two drones were spotted being flown over the airfield.
“Multiple reports” of further sightings followed, a Gatwick spokesman said, and all flights to and from the airport were suspended.
The runway was briefly reopened at about 03:01, the airport said, but forced to close again about 45 minutes later amid “a further sighting of drones”.
Chris Woodroofe, the airport’s chief operating officer, told the BBC about 2,000 flights had been unable to take off – affecting 10,000 passengers – after the two drones had been seen flying “over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from”.
Source: BBC