DRONE SIGHTINGS at Dublin Airport resulted in the diversions of seven flights to Shannon Airport across the February bank holiday weekend.
Airport operations at the capital’s international gateway were suspended for 40 minutes on Monday and were also suspended over the weekend after unauthorised drone activity was detected near the airfield, thousands of passengers had flights delayed subsequently.
Shannon Airport accommodated seven diverted flights over the February Bank Holiday weekend due to the drone sightings causing difficulties at Dublin Airport.
On Friday, three Ryanair flights due to land at Dublin had to divert to Shannon. These were flight FR-5150 from Glasgow, FR-7763 from Alicante and FR-113 from Gatwick.
A further three flights diverted from Dublin to Shannon on Saturday. These were two Ryanair flights FR-5115 from Riga, FR-7707 from Porto and an Aer Lingus flight EI-525 from Paris.
Another Ryanair flight had to reroute to Shannon from Dublin on Monday, this was the FR-1617 from Wroclaw, Poland.
It is estimated that the illegal drone activity at Dublin is likely to have cost the industry well over €1m. The DAA has described the flying of drones near the airport as “reckless”. It urged drone owners to adhere to strict regulations on the operation of drones to avoid a repeat of the weekend disruption.
In Ireland, any person operating a drone weighing more than 250g, or which has a camera, must under the law register as an operator. The Irish Aviation Authority notes in its new safety plan for 2023 to 2025 that just under 6,700 drone operators in Ireland are licensed.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has noted that the unscheduled closure of a runway can cost airports as much as €1m every hour. In December 2018, a drone being flown around Gatwick Airport outside London caused the facility to be closed for two days, with hundreds of flights cancelled. The person who operated the drone was never found, despite a police investigation.
An Garda Síochána have said they are “fully investigating” recent drone appearances at Dublin Airport.
