Protesters breach security at Stansted airport

Protesters opposed to the expansion of Stansted airport for environment reasons breached security at the facility before dawn on Monday.

For two hours in the morning, airport operations were shut down, as demonstrators managed to get air side and set up their protest on a taxiway.

At least 50 activists from anti-airport expansion group Plane Stupid cut their way through the airport’s perimeter fencing.

Protesters chained themselves together, and police made a total of 57 arrests, removing the demonstrators from the site.

Ryanair was forced to cancel 52 flights in and out of Stansted, and knock-on delays resulted from the two hour shut down. At 8:10am the runway re-opened.

A statement on the protestors’ group website read: “Over fifty young protesters from the climate action group Plane Stupid have this morning shut down Stansted Airport by camping on the runway and surrounding themselves with fortified security fencing.”

It went on to say: “The peaceful protest began at 3:15am this morning (Monday) whilst the runway was temporarily closed for maintenance work. Plane Stupid aims to prevent the scheduled reopening of the runway at 5:00am. The group intends to maintain its blockade for as long as possible, preventing the release of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.stanstedairport.com