When Copenhagen, Aalborg and Billund airports were forced to close after drone sightings, thousands of passengers were stranded, flights were diverted, and airlines absorbed significant unplanned costs. Gatwick’s 2018 closure is still estimated to have cost airlines and the wider economy over £50 million.
The pattern is clear: every closure has ripple effects.
- Business: missed connections, delayed freight, reputational damage to operators.
- Social: stranded families, disrupted medical transfers, shaken public confidence in air safety.
- Human: airport staff, police and security teams forced into high-stress crisis response — often without the tools they need.
Yet despite the sophistication of modern sensors and effectors, the planning gap remains the weak link. Hardware alone cannot prevent disruption.
That’s where we focus.
🔹 Launch site assessments to predict where drones are most likely to be launched.
🔹 Optimal siting of detect-track-identify systems to make the best use of deployed assets.
🔹 Pattern-of-life analysis to refine patrol routes and response strategies.
It’s about closing the gap between detection and action — enabling airports, police and event organisers to get ahead of the threat, not chase it.
Cunning Running fills that planning gap.
Talk to us!
If you are responsible for an airfield, stadium, festival or critical site and want a pragmatic, legally compliant plan that makes best use of your people and sensors, we can help you stand it up fast and refine it over time.
To arrange a UAS-PRAS demo, simply call Cunning Running on +44 (0)1794 834750 or email enquiries@cunningrunning.co.uk
Stay in touch by following the Cunning Running company page on LinkedIn, or the LinkedIn pages of Phil Cowell Head of Operations or John Overend Customer Support & Training Manager.
