BLACK Lives Matters protesters are delaying flights at London City Airport after storming the runway.
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“Black people are the first to die, not the first to fly, in this racist climate crisis”, the group said in a statement.
“There will be a knock on impact on flights to and from London City, and passengers are advised to check latest flight information with their airline before travelling to Dublin Airport”, she said.
The British branch of the Black Lives Matter movement, which held its first major protests in Britain last month, claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s demonstration.
The UK is the biggest per-capita contributor to temperature change & among the least vulnerable to its affects.
Scenes at London City Airport between police and protestors.
A witness told the London Evening Standard: “They got onto the runway using a rubber dinghy from the dock”.
Tweeting that the runway had reopened.
The process of removing the protesters began at 9:30 am, but it was not until around 11:30 am that the runway was finally cleared, blocking all flights for six hours.
A London City Airport spokesperson told the BBC: “The runway is now closed due to protesters on site”.
Seven arrests have been made and two protesters are still on the runway.
The Guardian reports that a spokeswoman for BLMUK has confirmed that all nine of the protestors locked together are white, inviting criticism from some that these protestors are “appropriating someone else’s struggle”.
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. Similar actions were carried out in Birmingham and Nottingham in a coordinated day of action.
The airport said that inbound flights were being diverted and that it hoped to “resume operations as soon as possible”.
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Flights resumed after six hours of delays from demonstrators blocking the runway, compounded by IT problems at British Airways in the United Kingdom and the US.
