A “resurgent” Al Qaeda is looking to carry out terror attacks on passenger planes and airports, UK Security Minister Ben Wallace has warned following the widespread chaos at the country’s Gatwick Airport over multiple drone sightings that triggered security concerns and led to numerous flight cancellations.

“The aviation threat is real. Al Qaeda have reorganized. They are pushing more and more plots towards Europe and have become familiar with the new methods,” he said.

The rise of the Islamic State overshadowed the Al Qaeda threat in recent years particularly after its most prominent leader, Osama bin Laden, was taken down by the US forces in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011.

But Wallace said the danger had never truly diminished. “Al Qaeda sat quietly in the corner and tried to work out what the 21st century looked like while IS became the latest terrorist boy band.”

Al Qaeda and its affiliates are now active in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya and other countries in the Middle East under a new generation of leaders. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s former deputy, is still its spiritual head.

Wallace said improvements in airport security meant terrorists were less likely to smuggle explosive through terminal security systems.Wallace said British intelligence chiefs were concerned about US President Donald Tump’s decision to pull out troops from Syria and said that it will create a “new safe haven for Islamists to launch attacks on the West”.