The airport remains closed as of late Thursday afternoon.
Armed forces have been deployed to Gatwick Airport in London following the closure of runways on Thursday.
The move follows reports of drones flying close to the airport on Thursday morning, with flights in and out of Gatwick having been suspended at approximately 9pm on Wednesday night after two drones were spotted flying nearby.
Gatwick announced that the runway had reopened at about 3am on Thursday, but 45 minutes later it was closed again.
Gatwick Airport released the following statement:
“Following reports of two drones flying over the Gatwick airport airfield at around 9pm, the airfield was closed from 21:03 on Wednesday 19 December to 03:01 on Thursday 20 December.
“Unfortunately, a further sighting of drones in the vicinity of the airport has forced the runway to be closed again from 03:45 as we investigate the sighting alongside Sussex police.”
Gatwick’s last public communication at time of writing came at 2.15pm on Thursday noting that the runway was still closed with flights cancelled up until at least 4pm.
Channel 4 journalist Jon Snow tweeted that Gatwick will now remain closed until 7pm, some 18 hours after the drones first appeared.
Gatwick now to be closed 7.00pm or later. 18 hours since two drones first appeared above the runway: UK defences still powerless tho' officially warned in Lord Harris's report in 2016: Mis-handling Brexit is one thing: but failing to defend the nation: is far more serious.
— Jon Snow (@jonsnowC4) December 20, 2018
Since then, Times defence correspondent Lucy Fisher has confirmed that armed forces will be deployed, per Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom.
Williamson’s statement to reporters notes that Sussex police have requested support from the armed forces in order to help with the situation at Gatwick.
Asked precisely what support armed forces will be on hand to provide, Williamson gave a vague enough response:
“Sadly at this moment it is not something we can actually reveal,” he said.
“But the armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn’t something we would usually deploy, but we are these to assist and do everything we can so that they are in a position to open the airport at the earliest opportunity.”
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