Drone scare shuts Gatwick airport in London

A drone attack at one of the UK's busiest airports has left tens of thousands of passengers facing major disruption.

The airport said 110,000 passengers on 760 flights were due to fly on Thursday.

The shutdown started just after 21:00 on Wednesday, when two drones were spotted flying "over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from".

The runway briefly reopened at 03:01 but was closed again about 45 minutes later amid "a further sighting of drones".

Gatwick chief operating officer Chris Woodroofe said: "The police are looking for the operator and that is the way to disable the drone."

He said police had not wanted to shoot the devices down because of the risk from stray bullets.

Police were still hunting for the drone operator after another device was reported just before 07:00 GMT.

Those due to travel have been told to check the status of their flights, while Easyjet told its passengers not to go to Gatwick if their flights have been canceled.

Sussex Police said it was not terror-related but a "deliberate act" of disruption.

Incoming planes were diverted to other airports including London Heathrow, Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, Paris, and Amsterdam.

Crowds of travelers have spent the morning waiting inside Gatwick's terminal for updates, while others reported being stuck on grounded planes for hours.

A Gatwick spokeswoman said extra staff had been brought in and the airport was "trying their best" to provide food and water to those who needed it.

According to the law, it is illegal to fly a drone within 1km of an airport or airfield boundary and flying above 400ft (120m) - which increases the risk of a collision with a manned aircraft - is also banned.

Endangering the safety of an aircraft is a criminal offense which can carry a prison sentence of five years.