All flights were cancelled as a group of nine United Kingdom-based Black Lives Matter protesters managed to gain access to a London City Airport runway and lock themselves together on Tuesday morning. “We are awaiting the arrival of specialist resources that are able to “unlock” the protestors”.
Advertisement
It remained unclear how the protesters accessed the runway, situated next to the River Thames and surrounded by fencing, with some speculation that a rubber dinghy may have been used to cross the water.
Four hours later the protesters were removed from the runway and it was reopened at around 12pm.
The airport said flights were diverted to Gatwick and hoped to “resume operations as soon as possible”.
Another Tweet added: “Disruption continues due to protesters at LCY, police are on site”.
It is not the first time that Black Lives Matter, a movement that was set up in the U.S. after the killing of black teenager Trayvon Martin four years ago, has targeted London’s transport links. “No arrests have been made”, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.
London City Airport is the fifth busiest airport in the London region, popular among corporate travelers because of its proximity to Canary Wharf and the City of London, which house the British capital’s two financial centers.
The airport offers short-haul flights to locations in Britain and mainland Europe, and served more than four million passengers past year, many of them travelling on business.
Meanwhile, British Airways, which does have flights in and out of City Airport, was also experiencing a computer glitch on Tuesday that was causing reported delays for travelers from London to California.
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.
Advertisement
“The runway is now closed due to protesters on site”.
