Travellers are being warned their summer holidays could face disruption due to possible protests by Just Stop Oil activists.
The environmental group plans to wreak havoc at airports in the UK and across Europe from mid-June, according to an undercover reporter for The Mirror. Protesters are planning to halt flights by storming terminal buildings, glueing themselves to runways and clambering onto jets in tourist hotspots like Spain, Greece and Turkey, it has been reported.
It means travellers could face agonising delays while those lucky enough to take off could be forced to wait hours on the runway on the other side. The undercover reporter learned of the plot at a meeting attended by around 50 activists.
Just Stop Oil’s Phoebe Plummer announced “disruption on a scale that has never been seen before”. She added: “The most exciting part of this plan is that [it’s] going to be part of an international effort. Flights operate on such a tight schedule to control air traffic that with action being caused in cities all around the world we’re talking about radical, unignorable disruption.”
She further added: “It’s time to wake up and get real – no summer holiday is more important than food security, housing and the lives of your loved ones. Flying is also a symbol of the gross wealth inequality that’s plaguing our society and if we want to create change we need to adopt a more radical demand.”
Just Stop Oil is set to team up with Europe-based A22 Network to stage protests at major international airports. Clive Wratten, of the Business Travel Association, said: “These planned protests are a blunt instrument that will alienate the people who can bring the change Just Stop Oil wants. The activists should work with British businesses to create meaningful solutions to our climate crisis. They should join airlines and their supply industry in bringing forward sustainable fuels and best practices, and we urge protesters to reconsider chaos bringing progress to a standstill.”
Some 51% of us plan to travel abroad this summer and three in five have already booked, according to Post Office Travel Money. Some 940,000 flights left the UK in 2023 and aviation contributes over £22b to the economy, Government figures show.
Just Stop Oil was founded in 2022 to try to halt all new oil, gas and coal licences in the UK. Its previous protests include halting traffic on busy roads, targeting an Ashes Test match at Lords and storming on stage during a performance of Les Miserables in the West End.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “In normal circumstances, the sort of activities you’ve outlined would be unacceptable. However, what is more unacceptable is the last 10 straight months of record-breaking temperatures, governments continue to allow more oil and gas drilling. The situation is an emergency and we have to start acting like it.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Selfish, disruptive protesters who wreak havoc in people’s everyday lives must be stopped. We have given the police more powers to tackle criminals posing as protesters and are backing officers with the tools they need to prevent serious disruption and disorder. More than 600 protesters were arrested during Just Stop Oil’s latest campaign.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/travel-tourism/holidaymakers-warned-possible-disruption-flights-29033617
