Rising airport drone alerts raise safety concerns

Flights at Jersey Airport were hit on 30 and 31 October after unauthorised drone activity was reported, leading to services being cancelled or diverted to other airports.

It is the latest of many incidents at airports around the world, so we asked the experts: 'What's going on and what are the rights of passengers?'

"You can go on to Amazon, you can buy relatively small drones for a couple of hundred pounds, if not less," said Daniel Clarke, chief technology officer at StirlingX which helps airport operators detect drones and locating the people flying them.

The growing popularity of low-cost drones is contributing to an increase in disruptions at airports across the UK and Europe, according to Clarke.

"Particularly over the last few years, we've seen more and more occurrences of drone incursions into airports," he said. "Not just in the UK, but across Europe."

He suggested some users may not realise the consequences of their actions.

"I suspect if this is, sort of, people doing it for non-malicious reasons, they're probably using the lowest cost systems, and they probably don't realise that they're having the impact that they're having," he said.

He also suggested greater education was needed for recreational drone users, arguing that many people who buy drones online may be unaware of the regulations governing how and where they can fly them.

In the UK, drones must stay below 400ft (120m), and 164ft (50m) away from people, and must never be flown over crowds. Pilots are expected to fly responsibly, keep their drone in sight and check for any restrictions before taking off.

Extra rules apply near airports, airfields, heliports and spaceports where Flight Restriction Zones protect the site. Drones are not allowed to fly inside one of those zones without permission.

The Civil Aviation Authority warns endangering an aircraft with a drone is a serious offence and can lead to prosecution.

UK and European drone regulations do not apply to the Channel Islands so Jersey, Guernsey, Sark and Alderney have their own air navigation rules.

Drones are not allowed to be flown within two nautical miles of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney airports without permission.

The rise in drones being found near airports has come at the same time as seismic shifts in the technology.

Modern drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, have benefited from advances originally developed for smartphones, including computing power, navigation systems and internet connectivity, the BBC's Bottom Line podcast heard in September.

The cost of the underlying technology has fallen dramatically, making drones cheaper and more accessible, and improvements in lithium-ion batteries have also allowed aircraft to stay in the air for longer periods.

As a result, drones have become a central part of modern warfare and are also being used for an array of civilian uses such as emergency response, monitoring infrastructure such as railways for faults, delivery of urgent medical supplies and even heavy duty tasks such as industrial cleaning.

The rise in drones being flown close to airports has also brought chaos for passengers.

For affected passengers the rules are clear, the airline has a duty of care to passengers in this situation.

Allana Wilckens, legal counsel for FlightRight, said airlines should contact passengers to explain when a flight had been delayed or cancelled and, where possible, provide the reason.

"If the flight is cancelled, the airline should provide alternative flights, alternative ways for the passenger to reach the destination," she said.

Wilckens said if no suitable flights were available, airlines should arrange other transport, including rail, coach or car travel.

"If they still say no, the passenger is allowed to book the flight by themselves, and ask for refund at a later date."

Passengers should keep records of all communication from the airline and retain receipts for any reasonable expenses they incurred themselves.

According to Wilckens, passengers facing delays of more than five hours or cancellations were entitled to meals, accommodation and transport.

"It is an obligation of the airline to care for the passenger that is stranded," she said.

Airlines often argued that drone incidents amounted to "extraordinary circumstances" because they were outside their control.

But Wilckens said passengers should not automatically accept an airline's refusal to pay compensation.

"It's very common, especially when there is an occasion, like a drone attack, that the airlines will say, you have no right to compensation because it wasn't our fault," she said.

"There are other options, there are avenues we can pursue in order to help assist them in getting their compensation."

The Regional and Business Airports Group has been contacted for comment. The group was established to provide a collective voice for airports with less than three million passengers per year.

Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney airports are members of the group.

Airports UK, the national trade association representing the interests of airports, declined to comment on arrangements to prevent drone incursions "for security reasons".

A UK government spokesperson said all threats to airspace security were taken "seriously".

"We are working across government to explore additional steps to protect sensitive sites," they said.

"This includes the use of counter-drone technology to detect and deter unauthorised activity around critical infrastructure, such as airports, prisons, and defence establishments."

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