London City Airport has had flights severely disrupted after a group of Black Lives Matter protesters locked themselves down onto the airports runway. The nine protesters reportedly got around security measures by using a rubber dinghy to cross the docks onto the airports runway. The Met Police have said the protesters then proceeded to erect a tripod and lock themselves together. Met Police officers began to arrest the protesters, with all nine protesters now arrested. Flights to Geneva, Milan, Luxembourg, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Zurich, Florence, Majorca, Malaga, Dublin and Frankfurt were all cancelled.
Black people are the first to die not the first to fly. This is why London City Airport has been #shutdown pic.twitter.com/HWvwNirerX
The protests come on the back of London City Airport being given approval to expand its capacity – a move that Black Lives Matter UK have outlined the potential detrimental effects of in this statement:
Recently London City Airport was given approval to expand its capacity, a move that consigns the local community in Newham to further deterioration of their environment. The average salary of a London City Airport user is €136,000 and 63% of them work in business, finance or other business services(3). It is an airport designed for the wealthy. At the same time 40% of Newham’s population struggle to survive on £20k or less(4). When black people in Britain are 28% more likely to be exposed to air pollution than their white counterparts(5), we know that environmental inequality is a racist crisis.
The UK is the biggest per-capita contributor to temperature change & among the least vulnerable to its affects. pic.twitter.com/Bb5SmKWyt6
The group are also planning to demonstrate against a flight from London to Jamaica tomorrow. You can find out more information here.
Climate crisis is a racist crisis. Cut emissions. Open borders. #Shutdown. pic.twitter.com/IUOaeaTrmw
