Minor disruptions at London City airport on first day of Extinction Rebellion protests

In the morning of 9 October, “Extinction Rebellion (*)” protesters gathered at London City Airport for a three-day occupation of the airport. Dozens of climate activists glued themselves onto the departure and arrival gates at the airport. At the end of day 1, around 1,000 protesters were arrested by Metropolitan Police.

Two protesters who bought airplane tickets (the irony) were disobedient, inspired by the environmental pressure group, a passenger/protester was able to climb onto a parked British Airways Embraer E190 (G-LCYM) while boarding a flight to Amsterdam, BA was forced to cancel that flight. On another flight, a passenger/protester became disobedient after boarding. He was escorted off the aircraft by airport police.

London City Airport CEO Robert Sinclair said: “The airport has remained fully operational throughout the day and has run an almost complete schedule of flights, with just two flights cancelled as a result of the protest activity. We want to thank all our passengers today for their patience, and the Metropolitan Police and British Transport Police for their support and professionalism.”

(*) Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is an environmental pressure group with the stated aim of using civil disobedience to compel government action on climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. (wikipedia)