Gatwick airport reopens after drone chaos

One of the UK's biggest airports is finally restarting operations after more than 32 hours of complete shutdown due to repeated drone sightings, affecting more than 110,000 passengers during the busiest travel period of the year.

The airport said the runway was "currently available" and 765 flights were scheduled for departure and arrival.

Flights were brought to a standstill after devices were seen over the airfield on Wednesday and Thursday.

The first flights in and of Gatwick were two Easyjet and two BA departures and one China Eastern Airlines arrival from Shanghai.

Police have so far failed to locate the drones or their pilot and said they had been considering plans to shoot a device down.

Gatwick continues to advise passengers to check their flight status before turning up at the airport.

Passengers have complained of "freezing" temperatures in the south terminal, while others found themselves stuck abroad after inbound flights were either canceled or diverted.

Budget airline Ryanair said it was switching all of its Gatwick flights to operate in and out of the Stansted airport on Friday.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the government was doing "everything we can to make arrangements with other airports".

Among the measures was the lifting of night-flight restrictions so that "more planes can get into and out of the country", he said.

Despite dozens of sightings, the main device, which detectives believe to have been "adapted and developed" to cause deliberate disruption, has not been found.

Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley said police were re-evaluating plans for armed officers to shoot the drone down after other methods failed.

The measure was initially dismissed over the risk posed by "stray bullets", but became a "tactical option" again after other methods failed, the detective said.

Officers were also following lines of inquiry into "particular groups" and a "number of persons of interest".

"We will do what we can to take that drone out of the sky," he said.

Supt Justin Burtenshaw, head of armed policing for Sussex and Surrey, said finding the drone's operator was "a difficult and challenging" prospect.

"Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears; when we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears," he said.

As a result of an appeal for information, Sussex Police said it had been inundated with calls, but urged people to contact with information "focussed on the identity or location of the drone operator".