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Flights have been grounded at airports around Europe this week after protesters glued themselves to runways.
ADVERTISEMENTGatwick is the latest European airport to be granted a court order preventing environmental protesters from trespassing on its land.
High Court injunctions have been issued at several UK airports banning protesters from their sites.
The UK’s Leeds Bradford, London Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, East Midlands, Gatwick and Heathrow Airport have all been granted similar injunctions in recent weeks. They forbid demonstrators from trespassing or causing nuisance.
It comes as climate activists begin a summer of potential flight disruption around Europe calling for an end to fossil fuels.
A ‘campaign of noncooperation’ at Europe’s airports
Supporters of five climate protest groups took part in a set of coordinated actions at European airports on Wednesday.
Five members of Last Generation glued themselves to the runway at Cologne-Bonn Airport causing delays and cancellations. The activist group said in a statement that supporters in several small groups cut through the perimeter fence, approached the airport and then stuck themselves to the asphalt with a mixture of sand and glue.
In Finland, nine activists from XR Finland blocked security gates at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport holding banners that read ‘Oil Kills’ and ‘Fossil Fuels are Killing Us’.
Three activists from Folk Mot Fossilmakta (People against Fossil Power) also reportedly breached the perimeter fence of Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport in Norway.
Five supporters of Futuro Vegetal (Vegetal Future) entered the airfield at the Barcelona airport, with the intention of gluing themselves onto the tarmac close to the runway, but were intercepted before being able to do so.
In Switzerland, 11 supporters of Drop Fossil Subsidies and ‘Act now – Liberate Switzerland’ blocked roads heading to Zurich and Geneva Airports. Five were arrested as part of the protest.
Seven Just Stop Oil (JSO) supporters were also arrested on the perimeter road outside Heathrow Airport on Wednesday morning.
On Monday, the protest group said in a statement that it would be engaging in a “campaign of noncooperation against fossil fuel use” at airports across the UK this summer.
Though they say they have won their “initial demand” for an end to oil, gas and coal licences, the protest group has called on the new government to work with other nations to establish a legally binding treaty to stop extracting and burning oil, gas and coal by 2030.
“This is not a course of action undertaken lightly, however action from governments must be commensurate with the scale of the crisis faced by humanity,” the statement reads.
“Until that is the case, it is on the conscience of every ordinary citizen to utilise whatever mechanism is available to us to nonviolently pressure for necessary change.”
ADVERTISEMENTJSO adds that its supporters are trained in nonviolence and will take all possible steps to ensure the safety of those using the airports or planes – including avoiding going on any active or inactive runways.
The climate activism groups say that Wednesday morning’s actions are “just the start”.
UK airports seek injunctions to prevent protests
Recent protests at UK airports have prompted legal action in an attempt to prevent disruption this summer.
A judge who granted several of the injunctions at UK airports in recent weeks, Mr Justice Ritchie, said JSO and Extinction Rebellion (XR) had “made good on their threats” with “enormous cost to the taxpayer and private financial expense, and disruption at oil terminals, roads, sports events and their threats potentially at airports”.
ADVERTISEMENTTimothy Morshead KC, who represented Gatwick in the latest case, claimed the airport had been informed by the Metropolitan Police that JSO were planning a protest at the airport on 27 July. He added that, while there was no evidence of a “specific threat”, the “impossibility of judging how events will unfold is one of the reasons for acting on a precautionary basis”.
Gatwick was the last major UK airport not to be covered by such an order and the barrister said this could leave it exposed. Morshead added that demonstrators may scan to see which airports are not protected by an injunction and target these.
These banning orders last for five years and are reviewed every 12 months. Anyone breaching the injunction could face up to two years in prison, fines or have their assets seized for contempt of court.
German airport protesters could face up to two years in prison
Germany has also tightened rules for unauthorised entry to its airports after a series of protests.
ADVERTISEMENTA draft amendment that would change some rules in the country’s Aviation Security Act could see unauthorised entry to airport runways – or ‘airside’ – punished with up to two years in prison or a fine. Up until now, this has only been punishable by a fine.
In the future, entering the airside with a prohibited item, such as a weapon, some knives and corrosive or poisonous substances can be punished with up to five years’ imprisonment.
“Anyone who enters airport grounds, gets stuck on runways and thus severely disrupts air traffic is not only risking their own life,” said Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser.
“The fact that there have been repeated incidents of this kind recently shows that the rule of law must punish these acts more severely.”
ADVERTISEMENTThe proposed tightening of laws follows a series of recent climate protests at German airports.
In May, eight climate activists were arrested after breaking through a security fence at Munich airport and gluing themselves to the runway. The protesters from the group Last Generation said they were protesting a lack of action from the German government on emissions from the aviation industry.
Demonstrations have also recently taken place at the Braunschweig Wolfsburg Airport and the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.
“Anyone who violently enters airports, occupies runways and blocks aircraft is endangering human lives,” Federal Transport Minister Dr Volker Wissing said.
ADVERTISEMENT“This is not a trivial matter, but will be punished with full force in the future. I am counting on this tightening of the law to deter activists and avoid disruptions during the current peak travel season.”
