At least two environmental protestors from the direct action group ‘Just Stop Oil’ have been arrested after they sprayed orange paint on the departure boards, windows, and the floor of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday morning.
Just Stop Oil identified the protestors 22-year-old Phoebe Plummer and Jane Touil, 58, who marched into Terminal 5 at 8:35 am on Wednesday wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with the Just Stop Oil logo and carrying converted fire extinguishers.
The extinguishers were used to spray bright orange paint on departure boards in the main concourse of Terminal 5, as well as on windows and across the floor. Plummer and Touil then held a short sit-in protest before being removed by the police.
Plummer said that the threat of being sent to prison would not stop her from taking action to demand that governments worldwide commit to eradicating the use of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
“People around the world are rising up to demand an end to oil by 2030,” Plummer said before she was ‘dragged’ into the back of a police van. “This is an international problem, so ordinary people are doing what our politicians will not,” she continued.
The protest comes just a day after a small group of Just Stop Oil supporters descended upon Gatwick Airport in an attempt to block the main entrance to the security checkpoint at the South Terminal.
Despite using special ‘lock on’ devices to make it hard for the police to remove them, the protestors were defeated when passengers simply walked over them to reach their departure gates.
Gatwick Airport said that Tuesday morning’s protest action had no impact on operations.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that a group of protestors had been arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of causing criminal damage. Police remain on alert for any further protest action that might take place.
Airports across Europe are being targeted by environmental protestors. Earlier this month, Frankfurt Airport was shut down for several hours after protestors had managed to break through a perimeter fence and glue themselves to the tarmac.
Frankfurt Airport said that at least 150 flights had to be cancelled as a result of the protest.
Heathrow Airport recently won a High Court injunction which forbids any kind of protest action within the confines of the airport for the next five years over fears that environmentalists are determined to cause travel chaos this summer.
Last week, a group of Just Stop Oil protestors were arrested as they cycled around the perimeter of Heathrow in what was believed to be an attempt to break onto the runway.
The aviation industry is committed to achieving net zero by 2050, but airlines say they are heavily reliant on the development of sustainable aviation fuels to achieve this target. On Wednesday, Air New Zealand said it was abandoning a more ambitious climate target because the development of SAFs was running so far behind the industry’s target.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Heathrow airport told us: “Working with partners we have quickly resolved a protest incident in Terminal 5 and all involved have been removed from the airport.”
“The airport continues to operate as normal and passengers are travelling as planned. We are in full agreement that the aviation industry needs to decarbonise, but unlawful and irresponsible protest activity is not the way forward and will not be tolerated.”
