London: Thousands of weary passengers remain stranded at Gatwick airport, the UK's second busiest, for the second day on Friday as police intensified their search for those responsible for the unprecedented chaos caused by unmanned drones ahead of the busy holiday season.
British Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said there was no evidence it was terror-related.
By Thursday night, 120,000 people had their flights cancelled, the BBC reported.
Gatwick's runway was reopened after on Friday and authorities said 765 flights were scheduled for departure and arrival.
Gatwick's Chief Operating Officer Chris Woodroofe said police had not yet found the drone operator. Police said it was possible they were an environmental activist.
He said extra "mitigating measures" from the government and military had given him "confidence to reopen" the airport.
The airport is expected to be "back to normal" by the end of Saturday, media reports said.
"We are now operating at almost normal runway conditions and the challenge for the airlines, as the result of this disruption, is that their planes are not all in the right place," Woodroofe said.
"So what we'll be doing today is recovering their operations so by tomorrow (Saturday) we are back to standard operation and continue to recover the situation for our passengers."
Thousands of passengers remain stranded at Gatwick as police continue their search for those responsible for the chaos, which started on Wednesday night, the report said.
The airport could not operate while the drones were in flight in case they hit and damaged a plane.
Officers have so far failed to locate the "industrial specification" drones or their pilot and had been considering plans to shoot a device down.
But Steve Barry, assistant chief constable at Sussex Police, said they were in a "much better position today".
He said there were a "number of lines of inquiry" into the "very malicious and criminal behaviour", including the possibility it could have been the work of an environmental activist.
Barry said a drone had last been seen at on Thursday night. Gatwick boss Grayling called it a type of disruption "we've not seen before" and "lessons need to be learned".