Flights resume at London Gatwick; hunt still on for drones

LONDON (AP) — Flights resumed today at London's Gatwick Airport after drones spotted over the airfield sparked 36 hours of travel chaos, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded or delayed during the busy holiday season.

The drones were first spotted Wednesday evening, sparking the suspension of flights at Britain's second-busiest airport. The last confirmed drone sighting was at 10 p.m. Thursday and flight operations resumed just before 6 a.m. today.

Gatwick's runway is "now available and aircraft are arriving and departing," the airport said, adding that it still expected "knock-on delays and cancellations to flights."

Around 145 of the 837 flights at Gatwick on Friday were canceled, the airport said. In the afternoon, it strongly warned passengers to "check the status of your flight with your airline before departing for the airport."

The prospect of a deadly collision between what British police described as industrial-grade drones and a passenger plane led authorities to stop all flights in and out of Gatwick on Thursday.

The British military joined police and aviation authorities in searching for the culprit or culprits behind the drone intrusion, which police said was designed to cause maximum disruption over the holiday period.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said today there had been about 40 sightings of "a small number of drones" while the airport was shut down. He told the BBC that the drone disruption at Gatwick was "unprecedented anywhere in the world."

Grayling said additional "military capabilities" and a range of security measures had been put in place overnight but would not elaborate. He said the airport was considered safe for flights today even though the drone operator had not been apprehended.