Activists of the Black Lives Matter campaign group secured access to London City Airport yesterday during a protest that affected more than 100 flights.
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Police said seven out of the nine protesters were detained on suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully air-side and violating airport by-laws.
Police were called to the airport at 5.40am after a group of protesters gained access to the tarmac.
The final two activists were arrested at around 11.25am, Scotland Yard said, almost six hours after the nine-strong group occupied the single runway.
More than 120 flights were delayed or cancelled, while flights which were due to arrive at London City from Dublin, Rotterdam, Luxembourg, New York and Frankfurt were diverted to other London airports.
During the protest, the group took to social media to explain this particular fight, citing their aim as being to “highlight the U.K.’s environmental impact on the lives of black people locally and globally”.
“Black people are the first to die, not the first to fly, in this racist climate crisis”, the group said in a statement.
The Black Lives Matter UK movement chose to protest the airport because of its plans to expand, a move that would reportedly negatively affect one of London’s most poverty-stricken areas.
The protestors began their demonstration around dawn and refused to be moved until the early afternoon, resulting in the cancelation of 16 flights and delaying a further 12.
Activists from Britain’s Black Lives Matter blocked the main road into London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, last month as part of a nationwide day of protests against racism.
Its sole runway is surrounded by water, but it was reported that the protesters were able to either swim or use a dinghy to cross the wharf, raising questions about security.
The conflation of the Black Lives Matter and environmentalist causes – and the suggestion that the airport was for the “elite” – prompted a number of Twitter users to express confusion over the protest. Protests were also held in Nottingham and Birmingham. We apologise for inconvenience, check with airline for flight status.
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Tweeting that the runway had reopened.
