Gatwick Airport is on lock down due to the sighting of two drones.
Up to 10,000 passengers are said to be impacted by cancelled flights at one of London's busiest airports this morning.
Gatwick's runways remain closed to incoming and outgoing traffic due to the sighting of two drones over the airfield.
One device was spotted early this morning with a second seen just after 07:00.
— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) 20 December 2018
Police are hunting the the controller of the device but do not plan to shoot it down due to the risk of stray bullets.
110,000 passengers were due to use Gatwick Airport today with 28 flights scheduled to and from Dublin Airport.
Advice for passengers.
The airport is doing it's best to update people via social media.
Their latest tweet read:
'Unfortunately, there are significant delays and cancellations to all flights today.'
1/2 Thurs 09.15: All flights to and from Gatwick are suspended due to ongoing drone activity activity around the airport. Unfortunately, there are significant delays and cancellations to all flights today.
— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) 20 December 2018
2/2 Please do not travel to the airport without checking the status of your flight with your airline first. We apologise to everyone affected, but the safety of all our passengers and staff is our no.1 priority.
— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) 20 December 2018
However, hundreds of people have been left stranded in the airport since this morning with some already seated on air crafts.
Passengers are being advised to check in with their airline before departing.
The drones are still flying.
Despite most drones having a 30 minute fly time, the two devices are still flying over Gatwick Airport.
They have now been in the air for 12 hours.
The head of airport police said he's, "absolutely certain this is a deliberate act to disrupt the airfield."
The sentence for this criminal act is five years imprisonment.
MP Henry Smith tweeted:
'The closure of Gatwick Airport for 12 hours now due to drone flying appears to be a deliberate criminal act with geofencing breached.'
The closure of Gatwick Airport for 12 hours now due to drone flying appears to be a deliberate criminal act with geofencing breached. I’ve previously raised this issue in Parliament and will be again. The sentence is now 5 years in prison but further efforts are clearly required.
— Henry Smith MP 🇬🇧 (@HenrySmithUK) 20 December 2018
As of yet there are no updates about when we can expect the airport to reopen.
