‘Oil Kills’ Climate Activists Block European Airports

A coordinated “Oil Kills” action of climate activists blocked on Wednesday airports across Europe, grounding flights and creating chaos amid the summer holidays, as campaigners demanded “an end to oil, gas and coal by 2030.”

One of Germany’s busiest airports, the Cologne-Bonn Airport, stopped flights briefly in the morning local time as activists from the Last Generation movement glued themselves to the tarmac. Inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports and while flights have resumed, the airport expects delays and cancellations to some flights today.     

In Switzerland, 11 people blocked two roads heading to the Zurich and Geneva airports. Police have arrested five people. 

In Norway, police have detained three people at Oslo Airport who demanded action from the Norwegian government. Campaigners from the movement Folk mot fossilmakta (People against Fossil Power) disrupted air traffic at the Oslo Airport, demanding a “Fossil Fuel Treaty to phase out fossil energy by 2030.”

XR Finland blocked security gates at the Helsinki Vantaa Airport, while activists attempted to disrupt traffic at Barcelona’s El Prat airport in Spain, unsuccessfully.

Five people in Spain have been intercepted by police while taking action at Barcelona El Prat Airport. One person has been arrested and the others have been fined, the Oil Kills campaign said.

In the UK, Just Stop Oil activists were arrested on the perimeter road outside Heathrow Airport at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Just Stop Oil proudly announced in a pinned social media post.

Last week, a UK judge jailed five Just Stop Oil activists for four or five years each over the disruption to traffic on M25, the major road encircling most of Greater London, for days in 2022. The protests brought traffic to a standstill for four days in 2022 and resulted in nearly 51,000 hours of driver delays.

These were the longest jail sentences since the previous UK government introduced a law to tackle public disorder and nuisance during protests.

According to Judge Christopher Hehir, the Just Stop Oil protesters had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.”

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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