Gatwick's runway has reopened after drones caused the airport to shut down for more than a day. The airport, the UK's second busiest, said 837 flights were scheduled but there were delays and cancellations. Boss Chris Woodroofe said "mitigating measures" from the government and military had given him "confidence to reopen". The drone operator is still at large and police said it was possible they were an environmental activist. The airport is expected to be "back to normal" by the end of Saturday.

Britain's Gatwick airport has reopened after a rogue drone saboteur wrought travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of Christmas travellers by playing cat-and-mouse with police snipers and the army. After the biggest disruption at Gatwick airport since a volcanic ash cloud in 2010, Britain's second-busiest airport said on Friday its runway was open and that a limited number of aircraft were scheduled for departure and arrival. "Gatwick's runway is currently available and a limited number of aircraft are scheduled for departure and arrival," the airport said. "Gatwick continues to advise passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport as departures and arrivals will be subject to delays and cancellations." Gatwick said 700 planes were due to take off on Friday, although there would still be delays and cancellations.

The Army has deployed "specialist equipment" to Gatwick Airport as the travel chaos caused by drone activity shows no sign of abating. It comes as Easyjet has cancelled all of its flights from Gatwick for the rest of the day. The airline, the biggest operator at the airport, said there was "no indication" when Gatwick would reopen. Tens of thousands of passengers on several airlines have been disrupted by drones flying over the airport. In a tweet, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson had confirmed the military deployment.