Gatwick Airport (LGW) was forced to briefly suspend operations earlier today following reports of drones in nearby airspace.

Brief shutdown

Both runways were closed this afternoon after a potential drone was spotted, forcing 12 aircraft to divert to nearby airports in Luton (LTN), Southend (SEN), and Bristol (BRS). easyJet was the hardest hit by the impact, with seven flights diverting from Gatwick. Turkish Airlines, Vueling, and British Airways similarly re-routed in-bound flights to Stansted (STN). As reported by BBC News, British Airways confirmed disruption to at least one of its services, which returned to Gatwick after a brief refueling stop in Stansted.

The closure lasted roughly an hour, with flights cleared to take off at 14:35 BST after a brief investigation.

“Passenger safety is the airport’s absolute priority and – following established procedures - operations at London Gatwick were suspended temporarily at 1344, while investigations into the sighting of a suspected drone close to the airfield took place,” a Gatwick Airport spokesperson clarified to Simple Flying.

“These investigations have now completed and the airfield reopened at 1435. Twelve inbound aircraft were diverted to other airports during the investigation, however we expect many of these to return to London Gatwick today.”

Drone problems

Within the United Kingdom, drone pilots are limited to operating more than 5 km from any airport or traveling more than 400 ft in the air.

In December 2018, a “drone attack” on the airport left over 1,000 flights canceled and nearly 140,000 passengers stranded for two days. The high-profile incident, which captured the attention of Government officials, caused about £50 million ($62 million) in financial damages for airlines, with the subsequent 18-month police operation costing an additional £800,000 ($1 million).

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Sussex Police made two arrests, though both people were released without charge. No culprit has yet to be found, though police continue to believe the incident was malicious in nature.

Anti-drone systems

With the rise in accessibility to affordable drones, similar incidents have become relatively commonplace across Europe. While heightened security has scaled back potential issues, researchers and tech groups have proposed several solutions to tackling drones in closed airspace. A range of solutions are currently on the market, primarily targeting the detection and disruption of unidentified UAVs.

Following the incident, Gatwick and London Heathrow (LHR) invested a further £5 million ($6 million) in Heliguy’s anti-drone system to detect and disable UAVs. Heathrow later confirmed it had upgraded to a radar detection system developed by Aveillant in 2020, capable of detecting drones up to 5 km in each direction.

Earlier this year, Dublin Airport (DUB) in neighboring Ireland suspend services up to six times in less than six weeks, impacting up to 20,000 passengers. In April, the airport announced it had trained staff on a new system, and it was currently awaiting regulatory approval, with a full roll-out expected “in the next few weeks.”

Did today’s disruption impact your flight? What was your experience? Let us know in the comments.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian

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  London Gatwick Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  LGW/EGKK

  Country:

  United Kingdom

  CEO:

  Stewart Wingate

  Passenger Count :

  6,260,000 (2021)

  Runways :

  08L/26R - 2,565m (8,415ft) | 08R/26L - 3,316m (10,879ft)

  Terminals:

  North Terminal | South Terminal