Unauthorized drone activity at Jersey Airport sent British Airways BA1356, easyJet U2883 and Loganair LM558 back to the UK on the night of Friday, October 30, 2026. Only the easyJet flight reached the island that night, landing at about 11:44 p.m. on a second attempt, according to FlightAware.
In a notice timed 22:25, Jersey Airport said “unauthorised drone activity infringing Jersey airport airspace” was disrupting flight movements and told passengers to check with their airlines. States of Jersey Police passed the notice on through Facebook, as a screenshot of the post shows.
What the flight tracks show
Channel 103 reported that inbound flights from Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton were diverted, and that the Heathrow and Southampton services were then canceled. Tracking data adds a detail: each aircraft flew back to the airport it had just left.
| Flight | From | Took off | Back at origin | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA1356 (A320neo) | Heathrow | 7:46 p.m. | 8:59 p.m. | Canceled |
| LM558 (ATR 72) | Southampton | 8:05 p.m. | 9:31 p.m. | Canceled |
| U2883 (A319) | Gatwick | 8:10 p.m. | 9:13 p.m. | Left again at 11:07 p.m., landed in Jersey at 11:44 p.m. |
BA1356 got closest. Its FlightAware track shows it about 8 nautical miles west-northwest of the airport at 4,700 feet around 8:14 p.m., before it turned and climbed away about 10 minutes later.
Traffic had been moving just before that, since FlightAware has BA2525 leaving Jersey for Gatwick at 8:13 p.m. The airport has not said when the drones first appeared, so that gap is only a rough marker.
LM558 flew a holding pattern at 8,000 feet for about 30 minutes, 10 to 17 nautical miles north-northwest of the airport, between Jersey and Guernsey. A passenger told Channel 103 the aircraft circled five times before the pilot announced four drones and a return to Southampton.
U2883 held at 20,000 feet about 30 nautical miles north of the airport for roughly 10 minutes, and came no closer than 27 nautical miles. A passenger told Channel 103 that the flight turned back because 30 drone-free minutes were needed and it did not have enough fuel to wait.
The effects ran into Saturday. FlightStats and FlightAware both listed the early BA1357 from Jersey to Heathrow as canceled. AeroCorner found no reason from British Airways, though the jet flying BA1356 the night before never reached the island.
What is still unconfirmed
The airport’s notice confirms drone activity but gives no number. The counts of two and four drones and the 30-minute requirement come from passengers quoted by Channel 103. At the time of writing, early on Saturday, October 31, AeroCorner found no report of an arrest or an identified operator.
Why a few small drones can stop an island airport
Jersey has a single runway, 08/26, at 5,597 feet (1,706 m), so there is no second runway to shift traffic onto. Jersey Airport says flying a drone in restricted airspace without permission from air traffic control is illegal.
An aircraft already in the air cannot wait at a gate, and every minute in a hold burns fuel it may need to reach another airport. U2883 needed only 36 minutes in the air for its second attempt, which shows how short these hops are. None of the three airlines has publicly explained its crew’s choice, as far as AeroCorner could find.
The Channel Islands also write their own rules. ITV Channel reported in July that UK and European drone regulations do not cover the islands, that flying within two nautical miles of the airport needs Jersey air traffic control’s permission, and that 400 feet is the height limit without it.
Two earlier Jersey drone stoppages were much shorter
On July 13, 2026, a sighting near the airport briefly paused operations while police and the Airport Fire Service investigated, Ports of Jersey said, according to ITV. St Brelade Honorary Police warned afterward that the penalties for endangering and disrupting civil aviation “are severe”.
In June 2019, Bailiwick Express reported that a light aircraft pilot’s drone report suspended departures off one runway direction for just under an hour. Friday’s event ran far longer, with BA1356 turning away around 8:25 p.m. and the airport still describing activity as current at 10:25 p.m.
It is still small next to Gatwick in December 2018, when about 1,000 flights and roughly 140,000 passengers were affected over three days and nobody was convicted. Closer in time, a suspected drone near Terminal 5 stopped Heathrow departures for 12 minutes in September.
It was the second heavy hit to Jersey’s flights in a week. On October 23, Storm Austen canceled most of the flights on the island’s board.
Sources and references used for research and fact-checking.
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About the Author
AeroCorner News is the aviation news desk of AeroCorner.com. It covers accidents and incidents, safety rulings, airline and airport disruption, and new aircraft. It works from primary sources such as the NTSB, FAA, EASA and the manufacturers' own announcements.