Operations at Gatwick Airport in the U.K. were temporarily suspended yesterday following reports of drone sightings.
Services were suspended around 13:45 local time for approximately 50 minutes while investigations were carried out to ensure the safety of flights and passengers. During this time, inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports.
A few days before Christmas 2018, reported drone sightings near the perimeter of Gatwick Airport caused hundreds of flights to be disrupted over the course of three days due to the possible risk of collision. No culprit was found. At the time there was criticism regarding the amount of time the runways were closed to air traffic. Since then, Gatwick has invested in drone mitigation and detection systems.
The airport has not provided an update on the recently reported drone sightings.