Gatwick forced to shut runway for nearly an hour due to 'suspected drone incident'
14 May 2023, 16:02 | Updated: 15 May 2023, 01:56
Gatwick Airport was forced to close its runway for nearly an hour because of a "suspected drone incident".
A Gatwick spokesperson said: "Operations at London Gatwick were suspended temporarily at 1344, while investigations into the sighting of a suspected drone close to the airfield took place.
"These investigations have now completed and the airfield reopened at 1435.
"Twelve inbound aircraft were diverted to other airports during the investigation, however we expect many of these to return to London Gatwick today."
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The airport added that the safety of passengers was its "absolute priority".
Among the flights disrupted were a BA flight from Mallorca to Gatwick, which was diverted to Stansted Airport, and an easyJet flight from Venice, which was redirected to Luton Airport.
Landings have since resumed at the secondary international airport, near Crawley, West Sussex.
It comes after hundreds of flights were cancelled at Gatwick in December 2018, due to drone sightings close to runway.
Two people from Crawley were arrested in connection with the incident but were later released without charge.
No-one has ever been charged over the incident, which was described by a government official at the time as a "malicious attack".
The 2018 incident marked the first time a major UK airport had been forced to close because of drones.
