92 ‘credible’ sightings affected 1,000 flights

Sussex Police said 92 ‘credible’ drone sightings brought 36 hours of chaos to Gatwick Airport in the runup to Christmas, with 1,000 flights affected in what the force said was a ‘deliberate’ act.

As reported earlier this month, police said they had searched more than 25 sites and had visited more than 1,000 houses to conduct door-to-door enquiries as part of their investigation.

Sussex Police Chief Constable Giles York said: “Our heart goes out to the thousands of people’s Christmases that were disrupted by this event.

“It was a deliberate and sustained act of criminal drone activity that caused that disruption, and it was designed to disrupt airport operation.”

Aside from the impact on passengers, the events proved costly for airlines. Easyjet reported it had lost £15million over the two days.

The company confirmed it paid £10million to customers in welfare costs due to the forced airport closure which affected 82,000 of its customers.

More than 400 flights were cancelled costing the airline a further £5million, it added.

Heathrow was also forced to ground flights after drone sightings in early January.

Since the shutdowns, the Government has faced criticism that the events were foreseeable and more should have been done to prevent them.

But the Department for Transport has said there are already laws against such malicious acts.

Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg, said: “The actions of these drone users were not only irresponsible, but illegal.

“The law could not be clearer that this is a criminal offence and anyone endangering others in this way faces imprisonment.”