Travelers face chaos as drones shut London's Gatwick airport

Thousands of passengers were delayed, diverted or stuck on planes Thursday as the only runway at Britain's Gatwick Airport remained closed into a second day after drones were spotted over the airfield.

The airport south of London Britain's second-busiest by passenger numbers closed its runway Wednesday evening after two drones were spotted. It reopened briefly at about 3 am Thursday, but shut 45 minutes later after further sightings.

The airport said all incoming and outgoing flights were suspended. Passengers were advised to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport, where many slept on floors or formed long lines at information desks.

Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick's chief operating officer, said that roughly 10,000 people had been affected by the shutdown by Thursday morning, including 2,000 whose planes were unable to take off from Gatwick, 2,000 stuck at their points of origin and 6,000 diverted to other airports in Britain, as well as Paris and Amsterdam.

Those numbers are expected to rise sharply. More than 100,000 passengers had been scheduled to pass through Gatwick on Thursday on 760 arriving and departing flights.

Woodroofe said at least one drone remained in the area Thursday morning. "As I stand here, there is a drone on my airfield as we speak," Woodroofe told Sky News.

A police helicopter was hovering near the airfield as officers from two nearby forces hunted the drone operators.

"The police advice is that it would be dangerous to seek to shoot the drone down because of what may happen to the stray bullets," Woodroofe said.

Any problem at Gatwick causes a ripple effect throughout Britain and continental Europe, particularly during a holiday period when air traffic control systems are under strain.

Passengers complained on Twitter that their Gatwick-bound flights had landed at London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and other cities.

Luke McComiskie, who landed in Manchester more than 160 miles (260 kilometers) from London said the situation "was just chaos, and they had only two coaches (buses) and taxis charging people 600 pounds (USD 760) to get to Gatwick."