LONDON: London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest hub, suspended all departing flights for around an hour Tuesday following a drone sighting, just three weeks after a similar incident at Gatwick caused havoc.
A spokeswoman told AFP at 1835 GMT that flights at the airport, which handles 213,668 passengers a day, had resumed following the interruption.
The Metropolitan Police said they were called at around 1705 GMT and alerted to “reports of a sighting of a drone in the vicinity of Heathrow airport.”
A statement on the airport’s Twitter account earlier said: “We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow and are working closely with the Met Police to prevent any threat to operational safety.
“As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologize to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause,” it said.
Arriving planes, however, continued to land at Heathrow.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said “the military are preparing to deploy the equipment used at Gatwick at Heathrow quickly should it prove necessary.”
Some 81 airlines serving 204 destinations operate out of Heathrow, located west of London.
Between December 19 and 21 drone sightings at Gatwick, Britain’s second biggest hub, caused travel misery for tens of thousands of people after flights were suspended.
That disruption came at a particularly busy time in the run-up to Christmas. It raised questions about the security of airports as well as the competence of police in charge after a couple were arrested and released without charge.
The British army had to be deployed to the airport on December 20 after it grounded all flights.
Gatwick has since said it has invested in anti-drone technology, while Heathrow said that it would do so.
In response to the chaos at Gatwick, Grayling on Monday told parliament that drone exclusion zones around British airports were being extended and operators would have to register.
Police will also be allowed to fine users up to £100 ($128) for failing to comply when instructed to land a drone, or not showing registration to operate a drone.
Grayling said the disruption at Gatwick between December 19 and 21 was “deliberate, irresponsible and calculated, as well as illegal.”
The exclusion zone around airports is currently one kilometer (half a mile) and this will be extended to five kilometers.
From November 30 this year, operators of drones weighing between 250g and 20kg will also have to register and take an online pilot competency test.
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Flights resume at Heathrow following drone sighting
Flights resume at Heathrow following drone sighting
- Drone had earlier been sighted at Heathrow Airport
- Departures were suspended, while planes continued to land
Police in France detain 9 people in suspected massive Louvre ticket fraud scheme
- Prosecutors also mentioned similar suspicions regarding a ticket fraud at the Palace of Versailles, without providing details
- The museum had filed a complaint in December 2024. Investigators found tour guides repeatedly reuse the same tickets for different visitors
PARIS: The Paris prosecutors office on Thursday said that nine people were being detained as part of an investigation into a suspected decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum.
The arrests took place on Tuesday as part of a judicial investigation opened after the Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024, the prosecutors’ office said.
The loss for the museum over the past decade is estimated to exceed 10 million euros ($11.8 million), it said.
Those detained include two Louvre employees, several tour guides and one person suspected of being the mastermind, according to the prosecutors’ office.
The museum alerted investigators about the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors. Other guides were later suspected of similar practices.
The prosecutors’ office said surveillance and wiretaps confirmed repeated ticket reuse and an apparent strategy of splitting up tour groups to avoid paying the required “speaking fee” imposed on guides. The investigation also pointed to suspected accomplices within the Louvre, with guides allegedly paying them cash in exchange for avoiding ticket checks, it said.
A formal judicial investigation was opened in June last year on charges including organized fraud, money laundering, corruption, aiding illegal entry in the country as part of an organized group, and the use of forged administrative documents.
Investigators believe the network may have brought in up to 20 tour groups a day over the past decade.
Suspects are believed to have invested some of the money in real estate in France and Dubai. Authorities have seized more than 957,000 euros ($1.13 million) in cash, including 67,000 euros ($79,459) in foreign currency, as well as 486,000 euros ($576,374) from bank accounts.
The prosecutors’ office mentioned a similar ticket fraud is also suspected to have taken place at the Palace of Versailles, without providing further details.
In October, the crown jewels robbery at the Louvre draw worldwide attention to the museum, after a team of four people broke in through a window during visiting hours and fled with an estimated 88 million euros ($104 million) worth of treasures. Authorities have arrested several suspects in that case, but the stolen items remain missing.
The arrests took place on Tuesday as part of a judicial investigation opened after the Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024, the prosecutors’ office said.
The loss for the museum over the past decade is estimated to exceed 10 million euros ($11.8 million), it said.
Those detained include two Louvre employees, several tour guides and one person suspected of being the mastermind, according to the prosecutors’ office.
The museum alerted investigators about the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors. Other guides were later suspected of similar practices.
The prosecutors’ office said surveillance and wiretaps confirmed repeated ticket reuse and an apparent strategy of splitting up tour groups to avoid paying the required “speaking fee” imposed on guides. The investigation also pointed to suspected accomplices within the Louvre, with guides allegedly paying them cash in exchange for avoiding ticket checks, it said.
A formal judicial investigation was opened in June last year on charges including organized fraud, money laundering, corruption, aiding illegal entry in the country as part of an organized group, and the use of forged administrative documents.
Investigators believe the network may have brought in up to 20 tour groups a day over the past decade.
Suspects are believed to have invested some of the money in real estate in France and Dubai. Authorities have seized more than 957,000 euros ($1.13 million) in cash, including 67,000 euros ($79,459) in foreign currency, as well as 486,000 euros ($576,374) from bank accounts.
The prosecutors’ office mentioned a similar ticket fraud is also suspected to have taken place at the Palace of Versailles, without providing further details.
In October, the crown jewels robbery at the Louvre draw worldwide attention to the museum, after a team of four people broke in through a window during visiting hours and fled with an estimated 88 million euros ($104 million) worth of treasures. Authorities have arrested several suspects in that case, but the stolen items remain missing.
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