Gatwick airport delays: Flights resume despite new drone sighting
Police say they have identified 'persons of interest'
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Gatwick Airport was forced to suspend flights for just over an hour following another drone sighting on Friday evening.
The runway reopened after officials were assured that the new "military measures" in place meant it was safe for planes to take off and land.
"While we investigated, airfield movements were suspended," said a spokesperson for the airport. "This was a precautionary measure as safety remains our main priority,
"The military measures we have in place at the airport have provided us with the reassurance necessary that it is safe to reopen our airfield."
Sussex Police said they were "deploying significant resources to seek and locate the drone and its operator" but there were reports that the culprits were taunting officers by flying overhead while flashing their lights.
Officers said they had identified “a number of persons of interest” after there were more than 50 sightings of the craft in the 24 hours from 9pm on Wednesday, when Gatwick was first forced to close.
Sussex Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry said investigators are keeping an open mind over the motive behind the drone attacks but are not treating it as a terrorist incident.
Mr Barry described the drone activity as "really high-end criminal behaviour". He said: "This is a really significant criminal offence. There are resources here at Gatwick Airport now to mitigate the threat of that and a lot of resources to bring the offender to justice."
It is believed that the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can detect drones using radar, is one of the pieces of equipment being used to prevent further disruption.
Police are also prepared to blast the drones out of the sky with a shotgun or jam them with a hi-tech radar system.
A £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the culprits is being offered by the Crimestoppers charity.
The latest drone activity meant another 108 arrivals were cancelled or diverted and 83 departures were aborted on Friday. Several flights were diverted to other airports around the UK.
Passengers have been advised to check with their airlines as to the status of their flight before travelling to Gatwick.
See below for our coverage of events as they happened:
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
In a 9.30am update, Gatwick bosses warned of "knock-on delays and cancellations", telling passengers to check with their airlines before travelling.
Here is some advice from our travel guru Simon Calder on your rights if your flight was cancelled.
Armed police seen next to the runway at Gatwick on Thursday (© London News Pictures)
Gatwick's chief operating officer has refused to rule out the potential for the airport to suffer more drone-related disruption in the future once the UK military leaves the west Sussex site.
Drafting in military personnel was among a series of measures taken to protect passenger planes from drones on Thursday and Friday, airport bosses and transport secretary Chris Grayling have said.
Chris Woodroofe said there was currently no commercially available equipment he could put in place to neutralise the threat on a permanent basis.
Speaking outside Gatwick on Friday he said: "It's a criminal act, deliberate act. This is an unprecedented issue. This isn't a Gatwick airport issue. It's not even a UK issue. It's an international issue.
"What we need to be doing going forward is work with technology providers and with the Government to enhance our ability to address the risk posed by drones to airports."
British Airways has told passengers it expects to run a "full published schedule" of flights on Friday.
The British Airline Pilots' Association has warned that it "remains extremely concerned at the risk of a drone collision" at Gatwick.
The union said it believed that "detection and tracking equipment has been installed around the perimeter" of the airport.
British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) general secretary, Brian Strutton, said: "It is up to the relevant authorities to decide whether it is safe to re-open Gatwick given that the rogue drone is still around and may be expected to fly again.
"Balpa is not aware that any special advice has been given to pilots operating into or out of Gatwick and so we have this morning ensured that all our UK pilots have Balpa's advice on what to do if they see a drone while flying.
"Balpa remains extremely concerned at the risk of a drone collision. It is possible that the rogue drones may go undetected around the perimeter or could obstruct the flight paths outside the immediate detection zone.
"Given this continuing threat we have this morning issued our advice to pilots about steps to be taken if a drone is sighted."
Empty Ryanair check-in desks at Gatwick (Simon Calder)
A dispatch from our travel correspondent Simon Calder, who is at Gatwick this morning.
The biggest airline at Gatwick, easyJet, has told The Independent that its cancellations have now risen to 49 for Friday, and others may occur because of restrictions on landings and take-offs at the airport.
Its rival, Ryanair, has abandoned Gatwick completely for the day and moved all its operations to Stansted. Dedicated shuttle buses are operating every hour to take passengers to the Essex airport.
Details are now coming in of numbers of cancellations airport-wide.
A Gatwick spokesman said 91 of 412 scheduled arrivals have been cancelled, while 64 of 371 scheduled departures have been cancelled.
Significant numbers of flights are arriving and departing and advised passengers should check with their airline, the spokesman added.
Here's summary of the situation at Gatwick today from our video team:
We're expecting an update on the drones investigation from Sussex Police's assistant chief constable between 1pm and 1.30pm.
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