Drone footage captured by Essex Police has revealed how Stansted airport is managing the challenge of finding parking spaces for nearly 100 aircraft grounded due to the coronavirus.
A reduction in operations allowed police to safely fly the drone over Stansted’s airfield, with footage showing almost all of the airport’s passenger stands occupied by aircraft. It also shows planes parked on the north side of the airfield, which normally
houses the airport’s private and charter aviation operation.
Despite many airlines reducing services, including Easyjet which this week has grounded all of its aircraft and Ryanair which has cut about 90 per cent of flights, Stansted remains open for commercial operations, while cargo flights continue to bring supplies into the UK.
The airport said its airline partners are also using the down time to carry out essential maintenance on aircraft.
Nick Millar, operations director at Stansted airport, commented: “This is a challenging time for the whole country and the aviation sector is no different. We have been working hard with our airlines to find space for them to park their planes which would
otherwise be flying around the world, given the majority of them have taken the decision to suspend most of their operations for the time being.
“Usually at this time of year we’d see more than 500 flights a day, but this unprecedented situation means we are faced with a different challenge of ensuring there is space for these aircraft on the ground and that airlines can continue to maintain them.
This is alongside the cargo operation which continues to bring in essential items like food and pharmaceuticals from around the globe.”