Environmentalists, campaigning under the slogan “Oil is death”, have been lining runways and grounding flights across Europe as holidaymakers try to get off for their summer holidays.
A series of protests took place at airports from Oslo to Barcelona, with activists disrupting flights and demanding that rich, polluting countries phase out fossil fuels by 2030. The protests, which activists said led to several arrests, came a day after meteorologists recorded the hottest day on record.
“Today, ordinary people are taking matters into their own hands where our criminal governments have failed,” the campaign said in a statement. “We are putting our bodies behind the wheels of the machine that is the global fossil fuel economy and saying: ‘Oil kills.'”
In Germany, protesters from the environmental group The Last Generation cut through chain-link fencing at Cologne-Bonn airport on Wednesday morning and set themselves on the runway, temporarily halting flights. The airport said 31 flights were cancelled and six were diverted.
In Austria, activists delayed flights by refusing to take off and splashed orange paint on a terminal at Vienna airport, while in Switzerland they blocked roads leading to Zurich and Geneva airports.
Protests continued at airports in Norway, Finland and Spain. In the UK, ten Just Stop Oil activists were arrested on suspicion of plotting disruption at Heathrow Airport. All remain in custody.
Rita Straub, 74, a former software analyst from Switzerland, said her act of civil disobedience was to “make a difference” and apply pressure. “I’m ashamed of the state of the world I’m leaving to my nieces and nephews. I can’t stand by and watch while fossil fuels continue to claim thousands of lives and governments continue to expand their use,” she said.
Activists have targeted airports, arguing that wealthy countries have the greatest responsibility and ability to phase out fossil fuels.
“It’s clear at the airport that things that were once normal are no longer tolerated,” said Lili Gomes, a Let’s Steak Generation supporter.
Authorities in countries including Britain and Germany have cracked down on airport protests and called for tougher penalties for activists.
The Dutch chapter of Extinction Rebellion, which joined Wednesday’s protest, said further actions were planned at airports in at least seven countries on Saturday.
