EasyJet takes £15m hit from London airport drone chaos

British no-frills airline EasyJet yesterday said closure of London's Gatwick Airport before Christmas caused by reported sightings of drones had cost the group £15 million ($19.2 million, 17 million euros). EasyJet said it had lost £5.0 million in revenue and taken a hit of £10 million on passenger costs.

"EasyJet has made a good start to the 2019 financial year with robust customer demand and ancillary sales, driving solid revenue generation," chief executive Johan Lundgren said in a trading update. "This was underpinned by good operating and on-time performance across the network, with the exception of the disruption caused by the Gatwick closures due to drone sightings," he added.

Britain's second-busiest airport shut down for 36 hours in the week leading up to Christmas because of repeated reports of drone sightings, affecting 140,000 passengers, the majority being EasyJet customers.