UK ministers consider widening drone ban around airports

UK ministers are considering widening drone exclusion zones around airports in the wake of the Gatwick Airport disruption at Christmas.

Flying drones within 5 kilometers of airports would be banned under new regulations proposed, and police could be given new powers to seize equipment, access records involving crime scenes or large events at risk of terror attacks.

Under current rules, unmanned aircraft are not allowed within 1 km of a main runway, but concerned pilots warn drones still pose a risk to incoming or outgoing jets.

The government will issue a response to a consultation on drones before the end of February and is set to publish a draft bill on the issue by May.

Pilots have reported several near misses with drones and the number reported to investigators has risen from six in 2014 to 93 in 2017.

But the government has been spurred into action after 140,000 people had their festive travel plans disrupted after illegal drone activity near Gatwick was reported to police.

One proposal being studied is from Balpa, the pilots' union, which wants the current 1 km exclusion zone around airports, brought in last July, to be extended to 5 km in order to keep drones "well away from other aircraft".

"A drone at 400 ft (120m), 1 km away from an airport, is still directly in the flight path and that is plainly not safe and yet is allowed under the new legislation," the union said. "Therefore, Balpa will continue to argue for a drone exclusion zone around airports of 5 km in the interests of safety."

The Airport Operators Association, a trade body, said 1 km was "not sufficient from a safety perspective" and that it wanted the government to implement a "no-fly zone" for at least 4 km around an airport.

It also called for "mandatory geofencing", which would electronically prevent drones from entering restricted airspace.

Ministers are aware that a wider ban would infuriate drone users as it would effectively prohibit their use in many urban parks in Britain: "It would virtually amount to a ban on drones within the M25 (London's ring road)," said one person familiar with the discussions, quoted by the Financial Times. The final proposal could extend the 1 km range but stop short of Balpa's 5 km proposal.

Gatwick and Heathrow have spent millions of pounds on technology that can detect and jam communications between a drone and its operator, following the disruption at Christmas.