Dublin Airport briefly shut down over a drone sighting at the runway

February 21, 2019 at 07:02 AM EST

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Dublin Airport was forced to shut down briefly on Thursday because of a confirmed drone flying over the airfield.
The airport tweeted at 11:56 a.m. local time saying they had suspended all flights due to a "confirmed sighting of a drone over the airfield."
Eight minutes later at 12:04 p.m. the Airport announced: "Flight operations have now resumed."
The disruption is the latest in a string of drone sightings causing disruption at British Isles airports.
Gatwick Airport was closed for 32 hours in December 2018, and flights from London Heathrow were halted for an hour in early January due to drone sightings.

Dublin Airport was forced to shut down for short while on Thursday due to a confirmed drone hovering over the airfield.

Ireland's largest airport sent a tweet at 11:56 a.m. (6:56 a.m ET) on Thursday saying: "For safety reasons we are temporarily suspending flight operations @DublinAirport due the confirmed sighting of a drone over the airfield."

Shortly after, at 12:04 p.m. (7:04 a.m. ET,) they tweeted to say: "Flight operations have now resumed @DublinAirport following an earlier drone sighting. We apologise for any inconvenience."

"The safety and security of passengers is always our key priority."

The UK's two busiest airports were also hit by drone delays in late 2018 and early 2019.

A drone over a runway at Gatwick Airport forced the airport to close for more than 32 hours in late December, and it happened again two days later.

Gatwick is the second-busiest airport in the UK, handling over 45 million passengers each year. British police later said that some drone sightings during the Gatwick closure crisis may have been of their own surveillance drones.

On January 8, flights at London's Heathrow Airport were halted for an hour after a reported drone sighting.

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