Why are flights being canceled at Jersey Airport? Drones, again. For the second night in a row, drones flown near the airport stopped planes from landing on Saturday evening. Flights from London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Southampton were canceled, and a flight from Madeira was diverted to Paris. It comes a day after three flights from the UK had to turn away on Friday. Jersey's government is calling it "deliberate and unlawful" and says it's working with UK authorities on counter-drone technology.
Latest Updates
Saturday, Oct. 31, 7:45 p.m. ET (11:45 p.m. in Jersey): Drones disrupted flights for a second night. Inbound flights from Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton were canceled, and the 8 p.m. arrival from Madeira was diverted to Paris. Passengers on one canceled Gatwick flight had already boarded and waited about an hour before being taken off and put in a hotel. Jersey's Chief Minister, Lyndon Farnham, said the government is working with UK authorities and specialist agencies on better drone detection and counter-drone technology. Police are asking anyone who sees a drone being flown near the airport to call 999.
Saturday, Oct. 31, 12:45 p.m. ET (4:45 p.m. in Jersey): Police have appealed for witnesses and footage, including dashcam, doorbell and phone video. No operator has been identified. Weekend flights appear to be operating normally.
Saturday Night
The drones were back on Saturday evening, around the same time as Friday. The 8 p.m. arrival from Madeira couldn't land and was sent all the way to Paris, and inbound flights from Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton were canceled.
One passenger on the Gatwick flight, Jersey Rugby Club director Myles Landick, told local media his plane had boarded on time and was about to take off when the captain announced drone activity in Jersey. It held for about an hour, went back to a remote stand to refuel, and was then canceled, with passengers put up in a hotel for the night. He said the drones "did disappear for a short period of time, but they reappeared."
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham called it "the deliberate and unlawful operation of drones in the vicinity of Jersey Airport" and said the airport "remains safe." He said the government is working with UK authorities and specialist agencies on extra support, better detection and counter-drone technology, and that whoever is responsible "should expect to face the full consequences of the law."
What Happened Friday Night
The first drone report came in at about 8:20 p.m. local time on Friday, and sightings continued until around 10:30 p.m. In that window, three inbound flights were diverted: a British Airways flight from London Heathrow, an easyJet flight from London Gatwick and a Loganair flight from Southampton.
The airport stayed open late, and one of the diverted planes eventually landed safely in Jersey at about 11:45 p.m. A 10:15 p.m. flight from Southampton never left, while a later easyJet flight from Gatwick took off about an hour late and made it to the island. Police, Channel Islands Air Search, government staff and Ports of Jersey, which runs the airport, searched several areas on the west of the island, close to the airport, but no one has been identified as the operator yet.
Why a Few Drones Can Stop an Airport
A plane on final approach is low, slow and has very little room to maneuver, and a drone hitting an engine or the cockpit window could be dangerous. So when a drone is spotted near an airport, controllers usually stop flights from landing until the area is clear, and planes circling overhead quickly run low on spare fuel and head somewhere else.
It doesn't take much to cause chaos. In December 2018, drone sightings at Gatwick shut the UK's second-busiest airport on and off for three days, affecting about 1,000 flights and roughly 140,000 passengers. More recently, drone sightings closed airports including Copenhagen, Oslo and Munich for hours at a time last fall. Drones have also been disrupting Moscow's airports this week, though there they're part of the war in Ukraine. Two nights in a row at the same small island airport, though, looks a lot less like an accident.
If You're Flying to Jersey
After two nights of disruption, check your airline's app before you head out, especially for evening flights, which is when both rounds of drone sightings happened. If your flight was canceled, look in the app or on the airline's website for Sunday rebooking options. Drone disruption is generally treated as an extraordinary circumstance under UK rules, so compensation is unlikely, but your airline still has to rebook you or offer a refund, and look after you with food and a hotel if you're stuck overnight.
If you're flying from London, it's also worth knowing it now costs up to £10 just to be dropped off at Gatwick, one of the airports these flights left from. And with winter coming, fog delays at Heathrow are usually a bigger risk than drones.
If you see someone flying a drone near the airport, don't approach them. Call 999 right away and note the location and any vehicle details. For anything else, including sightings or footage from Friday in St Peter, La Pulente, L'Etacq or nearby areas, call States of Jersey Police on 612612, quoting reference M07922/2026, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
