Second night of drone disruption at Jersey Airport

The drone activity saw all late evening flights into Jersey cancelled

People at Jersey Airport have said they are frustrated and angry that “unauthorised drone” activity caused more flight cancellations for a second night in a row.

At 20:05 on Saturday Jersey Airport said it was “experiencing disruption…. affecting inbound flights as a result of further drone activity in the vicinity of the airfield”.

States of Jersey Police are investigating the incidents and officers have appealed to anyone with information about who is responsible to come forward.

Insp Rob McCallum said it was believed “two or three” drones had entered the restricted airspace, but they were not thought to be linked to terrorism.

Pacific Basirwe was waiting for his family to fly in from Heathrow before their flight was cancelled because of the disruption

The Chief Minister of Jersey, Senator Lyndon Farnham, said operating a drone close to an airport was “not a prank or a harmless hobby”.

“To those responsible, the message is clear: if you are identified, you should expect to face the full consequences of the law,” he added.

Pacific Basirwe was waiting for his wife and young son to fly in from London Heathrow when he heard the news.

He said: “It’s annoying, this should be regulated, and the people doing those things should be prosecuted.

“It’s been two days in a row now… If there is no further action, they will keep doing it, which is not good.”

Richard De La Haye said the last couple of nights have been difficult

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Richard De La Haye has been a taxi driver for more than 40 years and believes the drone activity is affecting business for drivers like him.

He said: “It’s a bit of a nightmare because we’re sitting here for a couple of hours really not knowing what’s going to happen.”

De La Haye added: “If we pull away and the flights come in then people will be stranded waiting for taxis but if they don’t come in we’re sat here for two hours waiting for passengers.

“It’s getting silly and I don’t know the answer, but it really needs to be resolved, quite honestly.”

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