Possible drone flights halt air traffic in London again - this time at Heathrow

LONDON, United Kingdom - Last month, drones sighted at Gatwick, London's second-busiest airport, resulted in approximately 1,000 flights being canceled or diverted, which affected more than 100,000 passengers. On Tuesday, a similar situation played out at Heathrow, though it was resolved much quicker.

Just past 5 p.m. local time on January 8, the London Metropolitan Police said that they had received reports of a drone near Heathrow and were investigating alongside airport officials.

"We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow,” the airport said in a statement to the press. “As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologize to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Just over an hour later, flights in and out of Heathrow resumed.

Law enforcement has vowed to remain vigilant to ensure safe air travel in and out of London is maintained.

“We are deploying significant resources - both in terms of officers and equipment - to monitor the airspace around Heathrow and to quickly detect and disrupt any illegal drone activity; some of which are as a result of learning from the incidents at Gatwick,” police commander Stuart Cundy said in a statement.

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