Gatwick airport delays: Army called in to help battle drone chaos with flights grounded for at least 33 hours

easyJet has cancelled a number of flights this morning, and has urged passengers to check whether they are affected before travelling to Gatwick.

The airline said planes and crew had been left out of position due to diversions last night.

A spokeswoman added: "Additionally, due to there being restrictions in place on the number of aircraft movements at Gatwick, there are further cancellations and delays today are expected to flights operating to and from London Gatwick.

“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."

One passenger has told The Independent the disruption at Gatwick has prevent him flying off on the "trip of a lifetime".

Teacher Jeremy Taylor was due to fly to Buenos Aires after school finished for the Christmas holidays yesterday. 

"I was going out to see one of my best mates who lives in Mexico who I haven’t seen in five years since he last came over here," said the 38-year-old, from Herne Bay, Kent.

Taylor spent six hours waiting on the tarmac last night after the drones prevented his Norwegian Airways flight taking off.

Passengers wait at Gatwick airport 

After being allowed off the plane, he tried for two hours to book into a hotel but was unable to "as there were so many people and so little staff and minimal information.

"I’ve had to come to Brighton as thankfully I’ve got friends here," he added.

"I’ve been on the phone for three hours trying to rebook, each time I get to 55 mins on the phone it cuts off. The online system is crashed."

Norweigan Airways has diverted a number of inbound flights to Birmingham or Liverpool, while its Buenos-Aires-Gatwick flight has been re-rerouted to Paris.

A spokesman told The Independent: "Most other inbound flights did not take off since Gatwick was already closed."

Eurocontrol, which co-ordinates Europe's airways, has said Gatwick's airfield will be closed until 11am.

About 110,000 passengers on 760 flights were due to either take off or land at Gatwick today.

An airport spokesman could not say how many of these passengers had already been affected by delays or cancellations, but the first wave of flights is normally the busiest time of the day.

Around 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night after the runway was closed at 9pm.

Passengers have been advised not to travel to the airport if their flight is cancelled.

Passengers used jackets and coats as makeshift blankets after being stranded at Gatwick overnight.

Mamosta Abdulla said he had boarded an Iraq-bound plane on Wednesday evening before getting stuck on the tarmac for four hours. He will now miss his father's memorial service.

Abdulla told Press Association: "We got here at 6pm and should have flown at 9.10pm, but we were stuck four hours on the plane with a crying baby, the child was disabled and everyone was sweating because it was so hot in there.

"They gave us hope by showing us the safety procedure and then five minutes later they say nobody is flying.

"We got given a £12 refreshment voucher each after a couple hours of waiting and that's it. We've had to sleep in a freezing place, on uncomfortable chairs.

"We are in Iraq with bombs going off nearby and the plane still lands! But here some drones have shut down the airport."

The departures board at Gatwick is not a pretty sight for those hoping to travel today: 

Gatwick has issued a new statement apologising for the "significant disruption". 

A spokeswoman added:  "We are prioritising the welfare of those at the airport by deploying staff into our terminals to look after people as best we can. 

"We are working hard with our airlines to get information to passengers but would advise anyone booked onto flights from Gatwick, or meeting arriving passengers, not to travel to the airport without checking the status of the flight with their airline."

London North Eastern Railway, which operates the east coast mainline, is offering free train travel to passengers whose flights from Gatwick to Edinburgh have been cancelled today: 

Gatwick's runway will remain closed until noon at the earliest, according to an update from Eurocontrol.