Gatwick airport latest: Passengers react to chaos after thousands left stranded by drone closure

'All in all it's a mess'

Passengers using Gatwick Airport on Wednesday night and Thursday morning were left stranded, furious and confused, after the airport closed its runway due to drones seen flying over the airfield.

The runway was first closed at 9.03pm on Wednesday after initial reports of two drones near the airfield.

Gatwick reopened for just 44 minutes at 3.01am on Thursday before closing again at 3.45am, following a further drone sighting.

"There were so many people and so little staff and minimal information," Jeremy Taylor told The Independent.

The 38-year-old was booked to fly out on a "trip of a lifetime" to visit his friend in Mexico.

Passengers at Gatwick on Thursday morning (Rich McHardy)

He boarded his Norweigian Air flight to Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening.

The plane was scheduled to take off just after 9pm but remained "on the tarmac" for six hours, as staff scrambled to cope with the disruption.

"They had one man on the ground trying to give us information, but with 400-odd people that was proving difficult," Mr Taylor said.

"I did feel bad for him in that he had been sent out on his own."

Around 10,000 people are estimated to have been affected, with 2,000 unable to fly because of the closure.

Passengers on a flight to Gatwick are diverted to Birmingham airport (Christopher Lister)

The history teacher waited for a further two hours at Gatwick but found himself unable to reschedule his flight or check into a hotel.

He eventually went to stay with friends in Brighton.

Other passengers shared Mr Taylor's frustration at the lack of information available.

Christopher Lister was flying back to the UK from Ukraine, following a holiday with his wife in Bangkok.

"We were on holiday in Thailand and came back via Kiev," he told The Independent.

"It was just supposed to be a three hour flight from Ukraine but when we came into land on Wednesday night the plane started circling."

Passengers at Gatwick on Thursday morning (Ian Jackson)

Mr Lister said the Ukraine International Airlines pilot suddenly announced that the plane was flying to Birmingham airport instead.

No explanation was given and passengers began searching the internet for the cause of the diversion.

Once at Birmingham the travellers were told that they would fly back to Gatwick at 3.30am.

"We got to know at around 4am that the airport was still closed," Mr Lister said.

"We got off the plane at around 6am. At that point we had been on it for about 12 hours."

"The airline could have done a better job. They didn't really have much information.

Passengers at Gatwick on Thursday morning (Rich McHardy)

"A mother in front of us had a baby and had run out of milk. And there were lots of people on the plane who didn't speak much English and were quite disorientated."

Mr Lister said that Ukraine International Airlines had paid for taxis for the stranded passengers to travel elsewhere.

"I have a high-end drone and I think it's one of two things. Either a kid is flying a cheap drone that went too far or it's something a bit more sinister."

"But Gatwick seem to have handled it well," he added.

On Thursday morning the airport issued a statement asking passengers to check the status of their flights before travelling to Gatwick.

"Unfortunately, there are significant delays and cancellations to all flights today," a spokesperson said.

"We apologise to everyone affected, but the safety of all our passengers and staff is our no.1 priority."

Many passengers took to Twitter and Facebook to share images taken overnight of weary travellers and crowds at the airport.

"When I arrived at the airport at 5am the queues were stretching out the door and people were understandably looking frustrated," said Ian Jackson.

"I accepted a refund. All in all it's a mess."

Mr Jackson was meant to be travelling on an easyJet flight to Gibraltar.

"It's not a good day to be flying from Gatwick," he said.

There have been reports of drones nearly hitting commercial airliners near London in recent years, amid increasing concern about drones near airports.