The Sussex airport resumed flights at 6am on Friday (December 21) with a “limited number” of flights operating.

“Aircraft are taking off and landing this morning, but passengers can expect continued delays and cancellations as a result of the disruption yesterday,” said the airport in a statement.

“Gatwick continues to strongly advise passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.

“We continue to provide welfare and information to all disrupted passengers who are at the airport and have had teams in throughout the night.”  

Although authorities have so far been unable to locate the operator of the drones, Gatwick said it had worked with the government and military overnight to put in place “measures” to allow flights to resume safely.

“Our priority today is to get our operation back on track so that people can be where they need to be for Christmas, and we will update as more information becomes available throughout the day.” added the airport.

The airport originally had to close the runway on Wednesday at 9pm when two drones were seen in the area and the runway remained closed throughout Thursday after numerous sightings of the drones.