Gatwick Airport has been under chaos since Wednesday, Dec 19 after an unprecedented disruption caused by drone sightings. The police described the incident as a “deliberate act”. Over 110,000 passengers have been affected after drones put the airport on lockdown.
The second busiest Airport in the UK was closed from 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec 19th after drones were spotted near the airfield and as at Thursday afternoon, police were still on the hunt for the drone operators who have brought the airport to a standstill, causing travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of passengers just days before Christmas.
“Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears; when we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears,” Sussex Police Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw told the UK’s Press Association.
It is illegal to fly drones within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of a UK airfield boundary, with perpetrators facing up to five years in prison. There is no indication the incident at Gatwick is terror-related, local Sussex Police said adding that 20 police units from two forces were searching for the drone operators.
The Airport reponed this morning, Friday 21st of December 2018 but for a limited number of flights. Travellers are still adviced to check their flights to find out more.
