Passengers are being warned to stay away from Gatwick Airport this morning as it remains closed because of a pair of drones. They were spotted flying close to one of the runways, leading to a decision to stop flights in and out of the airport. The last sighting of them was at 7am today
Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick’s chief operating officer, said drones had been spotted over the airport as late as 7am on Thursday. He blasted the ‘irresponsible’ act, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that 10,000 people had been affected by the closure, including 2,000 whose flights had been unable to take off. He said two drones had been seen flying ‘over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from’. Mr Woodroofe added that 20 police units from two forces were hunting for the pilot, saying: ‘The police are looking for the operator and that is the way to disable the drone. ‘We also have the helicopter up in the air but the police advice is that it would be dangerous to seek to shoot the drone down because of what may happen to the stray bullets.’
EasyJet is advising passengers not to travel to airports if their flight has been cancelled. A spokeswoman for the airline said: ‘Like other airlines, easyJet diverted a number of flights due to land at London Gatwick to other airports across the UK. ‘As a result of this, aircraft and crew remain out of position at airports away from London Gatwick, which has resulted in a number of cancellations this morning. ‘We advise all customers flying to and from London Gatwick today to not travel to the airport if they are on flights which have been cancelled. ‘EasyJet has offered affected passengers who were diverted last night ground transportation to reach London Gatwick and hotel accommodation was provided for those who required it. ‘Passengers who arranged their own transportation will be reimbursed by easyJet. Customers on cancelled flights will be entitled to a free of charge transfer to an alternative flight.’
