Early 3:30 am July 13, Monday, 13 members of Plane Stupid, an action group against climate change, cut through the fence of Heathrow airport in London, and chained themselves together and to tripods, laid down on the northern runway to prevent airplanes from taking off and landing.
Thirteen flights are cancelled and 9 members of the group are arrested. Seven hours after their entry, they are removed and flights return to normal, reports The Telegraph.
Plane Stupid is a group of activists protesting the addition of a third runway in Heathrow airport. Previous news reported that the addition would be at Gatwick Airport, but after further studies were made, Heathrow became the most sensible choice.
The addition of a third runway for Heathrow came from the report of the Airports Commission, established in 2012, to give solution to the increasing capacity of passengers travelling through the UK.
Plane Stupid members say building runways goes against everything they have been told about climate change. They explain that the increase in carbon emission will have adverse effect to ecology and society, as a whole. They further discouraged plane commuters from unnecessary or frequent travels.
Despite the flight changes, though, Heathrow official remain that the protest had 'very minimal effect' to the operations of the airport. 1,300 flights go through Heathrow everyday. The northern runway, where the protest occurred, is used only for short-haul or domestic flights.
However, when the protesters were approached by policemen, they were told that the airport will attempt to make civil recovery, which could mean millions of British pounds. Nine members of Plane Stupid were arrested, while the others were removed from harm's way.
Heathrow airport is the major international airport in West London. It is the busiest airport in United Kingdom, and the busiest in Europe in terms of passengers. Gatwick is only the second biggest, and is found south of Central London.
