Gatwick airport delays: Army called in to help battle drone chaos with flights grounded for at least 33 hours
Up to 120,000 passengers affected by delays and cancellations after devices force runway closure
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The Army was called in to Gatwick to deal with rogue drones being repeatedly flown overheard in what police said was a ”deliberate” attempt to disrupt Britain’s second-busiest airport.
More than 120,000 passengers have been affected by delays and cancellations, with all flights grounded for at least 33 hours as the Christmas getaway begins.
The drone or drones first appeared at 9pm on Wednesday and by Thursday night there had been 50 reported sightings. The airport is not due to open before 6am on Friday.
Sussex Police said they were trying to identify the make and model of the flying machine and were actively considering shooting it down.
Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley said the use of firearms “will be within our suite of tactical options available to us going forward”.
He added: “One of the options is to use firearms officers if that presents itself – they have been out on the ground today and that’s a consideration and a tactical option that is open to us.
“There are a number of factors in terms of range, the height of the drone and the likely impact of us firing at the drone but that is a tactical option open to the gold commander who will make a decision based on the information available to them at the time.”
Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick’s chief operating officer, said the airport could potentially remain closed for all of Friday following further drone sightings.
He said: “My apologies to all those passengers who have seen this disruption from the criminal activity from these people who are purposely disrupting our airport and their travel so close to Christmas.”
“We have had the police, we have had the military seeking to bring this drone down for the last 24 hours and to date that has not been successful so Gatwick Airport is still closed.
The government, which condemned the activity as as “incredible irresponsible”, is facing widespread calls for the urgent introduction of stronger drone laws.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said there was no known motive for the drone activity but said there was no suggestion it was related to terrorism.
To read our coverage of developments as they happened, see below
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The hunt continues as the police and army listen out for drones at Gatwick Airport.
There were also reports of an IT system failure at Heathrow airport preventing people from checking in or dropping off bags.
Heathrow says the issue has now been resolved. It was apparently "a technical issue which affected a third party supplier."
"This global issue affected baggage and check in on a temporary basis, and it has now been resolved," said the airport in a statement. "We apologise for any inconvenience and delay that this may have caused."
The IT failure is believed to have only lasted 25 minutes but left dozens of flights awaiting clearance for take-off, according to reports.
Heathrow Airport is currently only expecting "a small number of diverted flights from Gatwick today" and is confident its schedule will not be affected.
Gatwick Airport says in its latest update that it anticipates "disruption to continue into tomorrow."
"We are working with our airlines to put plans in place to recover our operations once given the go ahead to re-open our runway."
Another 120,000 passengers were expected to fly on Friday, which is expected to be the busiest travel day of the year as people head home for Christmas.
Gatwick will not reopen until 6am on Friday, according to Eurocontrol.
By that time flights will have been suspended for 33 hours, with some passengers left stranded for two nights in a row.
The situation has already prompted at least one local resident to offer their spare room for the night.
Ryanair has confirmed that all of its Gatwick flights today and tomorrow will instead operate to and from London Stansted.
Gatwick Airport has advised passengers not to come to the airport "for the foreseeable future", including Friday.
Hotels in the area near Gatwick Airport are all fully booked, meaning many passengers are resigned to spending the night in the terminal.
Carl and Lisa McCluskey, from Lincolnshire, were due to fly to Egypt with their two daughters aged seven and eight and Mrs McCluskey's parents. They have now been told to check in with Thomas Cook at 6am on Friday.
Mr McCluskey, 44, told Press Association: "It's mindless idiots probably, they know what they're doing to hundreds of thousands of people.
"They would have seen the disruption to come out again this afternoon."
Staff at Gatwick Airport are handing out water to passengers and will be on duty throughout the night to look after vulnerable people.
Food and drink outlets are being stocked up with fresh supplies and the heating will remain turned on throughout the night.
Train ticket restrictions have been lifted and passengers with tickets for Thursday can use them on Friday, the airport confirmed.
Sussex Police are still appealing for information about the operator of the drone causing chaos at Gatwick Airport.
Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley, from Sussex Police specialist crime command, said: "This is a particularly challenging situation and my heart goes out to all travellers who have been affected by this criminal behaviour.
"We are working very closely with Gatwick Airport Limited and the Civil Aviation Authority, and are in close consultation with the government and other agencies in an effort to keep people safe and to resolve this incident as swiftly as possible.
"In addition to the searches that are taking place on and around the airfield, we are deploying a number of tactical options to detect and counter these drone activities and bring this to a safe conclusion. Extra officers have been brought in to support the operation.
"Our assessment, based upon the information that we have available to us, is that this incident is not terrorism-related."
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