Frequent civilian drone incursions are a major problem for UK airports, but fixing the issue is a problem that needs a plan consistent across the nation, according to the Chief Asset and Development Officer for Stansted Airport.
Speaking at the Commercial Aviation Summit held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London this week, Mike Hardaker admitted that incursions were frequent and there were few ways in which an individual airport could retaliate.
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“We get around half a dozen drone incursions per day,” Hardaker said.
“At the moment the response is that the police have to go out and physically find those responsible”.
Acknowledging that this is not a situation that can continue, Hardaker added: “There is technology out there that can tackle this, and we share what we are doing with the other airports. However, this is one of those problems where the aviation community as a whole needs to come together and tackle it”.
Hardaker made the point that while it was technically possible for drone manufacturers to tackle the problem with geofencing and other methods, it would remain an issue for the airports to solve.
“It sounds flippant, but imagine an alarm on your car that goes off at 70mph. There will be people who very quickly find a way to turn it off, and upload that on the internet,” he explained.
London Stansted is owned by MAG Group, which also owns Manchester Airport and East Midlands Airport.
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