'Disruption affecting flight movements' at Jersey Airport

Friday, 30 October 2026 at 22:10

By Harry Booth

Unauthorised drones flying over Jersey Airport airspace has caused three flights to divert away from the island tonight (30 October).

Incoming flights from London Gatwick, London Heathrow, and Southampton were diverted because of the issue.

Many passengers are still waiting to see if they can fly to Jersey tonight.

Channel 103 understands that they have to wait for 30 minutes of no drone activity before flights can depart again - and that Jersey Airport is staying open later tonight.

A person affected by the situation has told Channel 103:

"Two drones were flying near Jersey Airport as we were about to land, so we had to turn back as they need 30 minutes of no drone activity and we didn’t have enough fuel.

"We landed back at Gatwick and re-fueled and was told that the number of drones has gone from two to four and we were waiting to see what Jersey Airport are doing."

Another passenger said:

"During the flight as we got closer to Jersey, probably 15 minutes before we were due to land, there was an announcement from the pilot saying there was drone activity at the airport, so we might not be able to land, but they'd hang around a bit and wait for communication from Jersey Airport hoping the drones would disappear.

"We circled between Jersey and Guernsey 5 times before the pilot announced that there were 4 drones flying around and we wouldn't be able to land and would have to go back to Southampton.

"We landed back in Southampton at around 9.30pm and we were asked to stay on the plane as they might refuel and try again tonight or if the drones continued we would have to disembark and stay overnight but would confirm by 10pm.

"Just before 10pm, they confirmed the drones were still flying around so we'd have to disembark. We disembarked and headed to the check in desk."

More to follow.