Britain's aviation watchdog has warned it's only a matter of time before organized drone attacks bring UK airports to a standstill.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) boss Rob Bishton told the Airlines UK conference on Monday that it was "entirely unrealistic" to think drone incursions "won't cause disruption" in the future, days after two Belgian airports were forced to shut down following drone sightings.
"It's not a question of if, only of when," he said, according to The Financial Times, adding that both drones and cyber threats are now evolving faster than anyone can keep up.
The warning revives memories of the 2018 Gatwick fiasco, when repeated drone sightings grounded more than 140,000 passengers and shut the airport for three days. That incident led to tighter UK rules barring drones from flying higher than 400 feet or within a kilometer of an airport boundary.
But Bishton now admits the defenses that came out of Gatwick "are not potentially as effective as they need to be" against what he described as a new wave of "more organized" operators using "non-attributable, very low cost" drones.
Or, to put it less diplomatically: the bad guys got smarter, the toys got cheaper, and the sky's still open for business.
The latest scare came from across the Channel, where both Brussels and Liège airports were shut last week after drones wandered into restricted airspace. Denmark has also had four airports briefly close in recent weeks after similar incidents. Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said she couldn't rule out Russian involvement.
London took the hint, with Defence Secretary John Healey announcing the UK would provide military assistance to Belgium. "As hybrid threats grow," Healey said, "our strength lies in our alliances and our collective resolve to defend, deter and protect our critical infrastructure and airspace."
Speaking at the same event, Heathrow's chief executive Thomas Woldbye said he was "increasingly concerned" about the threat but insisted the airport has "one of the best systems in the world" to deal with it. That may be true, but the reality is simple: if a drone enters an airport's airspace – or the approach path of a jet – lights stop. Air traffic control (ATC), working with police and the airport, decides when it's safe to resume.
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An aviation industry source told The Register that drone sightings almost always trigger immediate restrictions. "The [airline] manuals identify drones as a mid-air collision threat and go on to say they should be reported to ATC," our source said. "From my experience, ATC drive the process, they close the airspace until drone threat has passed. Normally results in airborne holding as long as you can then divert.
"All you need is a willing 'volunteer' to make a few calls to ATC and chaos ensues. For extra spice, have a few sightings reported by people around the airport too," they added.
Bishton also threw cyber attacks into the mix, warning that "cyber technology is evolving at pace and at volume." His comments come just weeks after a cyber incident at Collins Aerospace disrupted airline check-in systems across Europe, including at Gatwick, forcing ground staff to revert to manual processing for several hours. The September 2025 cyberattack, which was claimed by the Everest ransomware crew, affected Collins' vMUSE check-in and boarding software.
The CAA hasn't commented further on its readiness, or whether another Gatwick-style incident would play out any differently today. But with cheap drones still buzzing around airports and hostile folk testing Europe's air defenses, the regulator's message couldn't be clearer: brace for impact. ®