UK: Gatwick Airport remains shut due to drones

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - Thousands of passengers have been affected by flight disruptions as one of the busiest airports in British capital has remained closed Thursday morning, after drones have been spotted over the runways since last night.

Around 10,000 passengers were affected as airplanes have been unable to leave Gatwick Airport and incoming flights were diverted to Luton, Heathrow, Stansted and Manchester.

Some incoming flights were redirected to Paris and Amsterdam.

Chris Woodroofe, the chief operating officer, said they were trying to find a drone reported as still being in the air.

Speaking to BBC, Woodroofe said two drones had been seen flying "over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from", sparking "very significant disruption".

“Last night, there were 10,000 people disrupted,” he said.

Woodroofe added: “There were 6,000 people flying in from around the world to Gatwick who were diverted to alternative airports.

“There were 2,000 people who didn’t take off from their origin airport and there were a further 2,000 people here who couldn’t fly to their destination.”

“The knock on effects will certainly last for 24 hours and it will be longer than that for every passenger to be repatriated,” he added.

Police are still searching for the pilot of the drones, and they are not willing to shoot the drones down as stray bullets would cause risk, he also said.