Frankfurt Airport runway closed after drone sighting
Air chaos in Europe as French traffic controllers go on strike causing delays and cancellations… after Germany’s busiest airport was closed for an hour following drone sighting in Frankfurt
- Hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled because of the French strike
- Some are being forced to take long-way-round routes to avoid French airspace
- Earlier a drone sighting caused disruption at Frankfurt, the hub for Lufthansa
Thousands of air passengers across Europe are facing delays and cancellations today as French air traffic controllers go on strike.
British Airways and Jet2 are among the UK airlines facing passenger fury as planes were forced to take long-way-round routes to avoid French airspace.
A departure board at London Stansted showed flights to Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Italy delayed by half an hour or more.
To add to the chaos, Frankfurt Airport was closed for nearly an hour this morning after the runway was shut following a drone sighting.
Frankfurt Airport (stock image) was closed for nearly an hour this morning after the runway was closed following a drone sighting
Germany’s biggest airline hub was forced into a 48-minute stoppage which left dozens of flights delayed or cancelled.
No take-offs or landings were possible between 7.27am and 8.18m local time, the airport police said.
Some passengers were forced to wait on the tarmac while a helicopter circled overhead in the search for the drone, according to German media.
Lufthansa, Germany’s flag-carrying airline, said the ‘safety of our passengers is our highest priority’.
Frankfurt, the fourth-busiest airport in Europe, handles hundreds of Lufthansa flights a day around Europe and the world.
The early-morning disruption piled further misery on European passengers as the French air traffic control strike began today.
UK airline EasyJet has warned they are ‘expecting to experience disruption to our flying programme’ because of the strike.
British Airways also has delays, saying that ‘many flights are disrupted today due to a French ATC strike’, while also claiming that at least one flight was delayed because of weather.
Some of its flights had already been cancelled before the strike began.
A map from flight tracker FlightRadar24 showed planes sitting on the tarmac at the Frankfurt hub following the drone sighting this morning
One passenger, Becky Charles, complained of a delay of three hours on a Jet2 flight but the airline said it was ‘outside of our control’.
Another, called Jack, said they had been ‘sat on this bloody plane now for an hour waiting to take off’ because of the French action.
Matthew James Harris said: ‘Should be in Catalonia, Spain around now but three- hour delay because the French air traffic control are on strike.’
The strike began last night and will continue into the early hours of Friday, affecting thousands of passengers.
Trade magazine Travel Weekly has warned that 550 flights and more than 75,000 people may be hit.
The departure board at Frankfurt Airport (file photo) which was forced into a 48-minute stoppage today after a drone sighting
Some passengers voiced their fury after they were delayed by the air traffic control strike
Some flights are taking circuitous routes across Europe to avoid French airspace because of the strike.
The 35-hour walkout is part of wider industrial action against President Emmanuel Macron’s labour reforms.
CFDT, the French union behind the strikes, is calling on ‘public servants’ including teachers to join the action, saying that ‘we expect better’.
Cruise line P&O said one of its ferries had been cancelled as a result of the French strike action.
The drone sighting today was the second at Frankfurt in a matter of weeks after a 29-minute stoppage on March 22.
Flying drones near airports is banned in Germany but German air traffic controllers recorded some 158 examples in 2018.
This departure board at London Stansted airport showed delays to a number of European trips
Counter drone equipment deployed on a rooftop at Gatwick airport last December when repeated sightings caused chaos to Christmas flights
The dozens of incidents, which rose from 88 the previous year, caused stoppages of a combined 30 hours at major German airports.
In February air traffic controllers and the German military carried out tests on anti-drone technology to address the rising number.
It follows the three days of travel chaos at London’s Gatwick Airport just before Christmas.
A number of drone sightings forced Britain’s second-busiest airport to shut down for 33 hours, ruining festive travel plans for more than 100,000 people.
The chaos continued despite a huge police operation and the Army was eventually called to bring the incident under control.
The French strikes today – which affect much of the public sector – are taking aim at President Emmanuel Macron (pictured yesterday) and his labour reforms
No culprit has been identified, prompting speculation that the drones had been mistaken for police equipment.
Military anti-drone equipment, which can detect the flying machines and disable them by jamming radio signals, remained at the airport until March.
Gatwick and Heathrow are investing millions in their own systems to prevent future flight disruption.
Experts warn that a drone collision could be catastrophic, especially if a plane’s engine is struck.
Commercial drones have geofencing technology which is meant to stop them flying in restricted areas.
However, it is possible to obtain permission and anyone who built their own drone could exclude the geoblocking feature.
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