Thousands disrupted as drones shut down Gatwick (Assignment 2)

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or diverted from Gatwick Airport today due to drones being spotted over the airfield leaving the UK’s second busiest airport in shutdown and chaos.

The drones were spotted at 21:03 Wednesday night, and soon-after, flights were grounded or diverted as an investigation began alongside the Sussex Police.

The runway was initially shut down between 21:03 Wednesday to 3:01 Thursday, however, multiple drone sightings have been reported over Gatwick since the initial two, meaning that the runway was closed again after only 45 minutes.

Sussex Police also asked for assistance from the armed forces, which have now been deployed to tackle the drone problem and locate the perpetrator.

The shutdown of the UK’s second busiest airport has also resulted in tens of thousands of passengers having their flights delayed, diverted or cancelled. This has meant that many hoping travel have been forced to remain in London.

Other passengers scheduled to land at Gatwick were luckier and managed to have their flights diverted to other UK airports.

We spoke to one flyer, Nathan Lloyd, who was scheduled to travel from Malmö but had to cancel his plans to visit his family in Swansea over Christmas. He said: ‘Our flight was meant to be at 20:40 yesterday, then it initially got delayed until 23:24 then totally cancelled. We’ve requested refunds.’

‘I feel so sorry for the people stuck in the airport itself. Apparently a 2 hour queue for coffee, people sleeping on the floors and passing out.’

While the shutdown has caused chaos for travellers, some companies have been praised for their attentive customer service and their performance under the unexpected circumstances.

Some passengers waiting in the airport and on grounded planes have spotted drones form the windows.

The Prime Minister has said: ‘We’ve already passed legislation in relation to the use of drones so it is now, as it has been made clear, the activity we’ve seen is illegal and those who are caught endangering aircraft will face up to five years in prison.’