10:34

Renata Alinta, 50, was sat on the floor waiting with her three sons, aged nine, eight and six, in the south terminal, after arriving via a circuitous route from Northern Ireland. They were aiming to catch a flight to the Dominican Republic, where they hoped to spend Christmas.

Her original flight from Belfast to Gatwick had been cancelled, but after BA told her that her flight to the Caribbean was still likely to depart she had paid for another flight to Stansted, then taken a cab to West Sussex in the hope she could still catch it. The detour had cost her an extra £430. She said:

We’ve been waiting since 5am for information and we don’t know if it [the flight] is going to be cancelled. This is our first holiday to the Caribbean and everybody is upset … There are no places to sit, so we are just relaxing. We can’t even get food because people are sitting down in all the cafes.

Despite the hardships, she said she had had good help and support as she tried to rush her three boys around on their journey. The two younger boys were rolling about on the floor in frustration, while the eldest, who was suffering from a cold, dozed with his head in her lap.



Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) "This is our first holiday to the Caribbean and everybody is upset."



Renata Alinta, 50, from Belfast, with her three sons - aged nine, eight and six. She spent an extra £430 taking a detour to Gatwick after @British_Airways said her flight would still depart. pic.twitter.com/ZzVATF3t1y

Nearby, Tyreese Joseph-Scott, 16, sat with his younger sibling waiting for his family to return with food. They had a flight booked for a Christmas getaway to Montego Bay, Jamaica. He had been at Gatwick since 8.30am, and had no idea when he and his family might get to board a plane.

“It’s a shambles,” he said. Asked what he thought of those operating the drones that had disabled the airport, he said: “They’re just stupid. They’re doing it on purpose, clearly.”