Business travellers and tourists using Gatwick and Heathrow airports will welcome news that both are to invest millions in anti-drone equipment.
The decision to invest follows an incident in the run up to Christmas where flights in and out of Gatwick were disrupted for a number of days when a drone was spotted in the area.
The equipment that Heathrow and Gatwick are reported to be investing in can detect and jam communication between the operators of drones and the drones themselves, rendering them useless. The equipment is thought to be the Drone Dome system that has been developed by Isreal and was that used by the RAF when they dealt with the Gatwick drone incident in December 2018.
Gatwick says that it has already spent £5 million on ensuring that it has the technology and equipment in place to deal with future drone attacks. Meanwhile, a spokesperson at Heathrow stated: “The safety of our passengers and colleagues remains our top priority. Working closely with relevant authorities including the Met Police, we are constantly looking at the best technologies that help remove the threat of drones.”
In addition to the investments, the Ministry of Defence says it is ‘ever ready’ to assist in dealing with the threat of drone-use in and around airports.
