Unregulated drone flights disrupted operations at Jersey Airport in the Channel Islands on Friday evening. The airport press office said flight operations were affected and arriving flights from London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Southampton were diverted.
According to local media, planes were unable to land while there was drone activity in the area. It took 30 minutes without any new sightings for flights to resume. The airport remained open later to deal with the disruption.
“Two drones were flying near Jersey Airport as we were about to land, so we had to turn back because we needed 30 minutes without drone activity and we were low on fuel,“ a passenger told Channel 103.He said the plane landed back at Gatwick Airport and was refuelled. Passengers were told the number of drones had increased from two to four. This is based on a passenger's account and has not been confirmed by an official statement on the exact number of drones.
Jersey Airport and local authorities have not released the identities of the operators or whether any violators have been identified. Drone flights in the restricted airspace around the airport are prohibited without prior permission from air traffic control.
The incident is the second reported drone violation near the airport in 2026. Operations were temporarily suspended in July after a drone alert, but were then resumed after a police and fire department inspection.
Sources: islandfm.com, uknip.co.uk, cedarnews.net