Flights at Dublin Airport diverted for third time after illegal drone activity reports

Flights have been disrupted at Dublin Airport for a third time in recent days due to reports of illegal drone activity, airport operator DAA has said.

Hundreds of airline passengers had their flights diverted to other airports on Sunday evening after air traffic controllers were alerted to the possible drone activity at Dublin.

At least three flights were diverted to Belfast and Shannon following the latest incident, the third at Dublin in four days involving reports of drones flying near or over the airfield.

Air traffic controllers suspended operations in accordance with procedures at around 7pm to deal with the reported sighting. Aircraft due to depart were grounded while flights scheduled to land at Dublin were placed in holding patterns away from the airport while a search for the drone was carried out.

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A TUI Airways flight from Gran Canaria diverted to Belfast Airport, as did a Ryanair flight from Valencia in Spain. A Ryanair flight from Wroclaw, Poland rerouted to Shannon Airport, where it was due to refuel before returning to Dublin.

[ Delay in introducing counter-drone system leaves Dublin Airport vulnerable to more shutdowns ]

About 40 minutes after the drone was first sighted operations resumed at Dublin Airport.

The use of drones within 5km of the airport is “reckless and irresponsible” and “illegal”, the DAA said.

“Those found responsible will face prosecution. While safety and security remain our top priorities such disruptions cause huge inconvenience to our passengers,” it said.

On Friday evening, operations at Dublin were also suspended while a number of flights were forced to divert to Belfast and Shannon Airports following reported drone sightings. A similar incident resulting in significant disruption occurred on Saturday.