Manchester Airport Protest Over Freight Expansion

Campaigners have breached security at one of the UK’s main airports to protest against future freight expansion and the impact that this will have on the environment. The campaigners belong to a group called Plane Stupid and – early on the 24 May 2010 – they gained access to non-public areas of Manchester Airport to chain themselves to an aircraft’s undercarriage.

According to a Manchester Airport representative, six people were involved in cutting an entrance hole in the fence that runs around the site. As a result, no flights arrived at or departed Manchester Airport for 20 minutes, but these have now resumed, even though the protestors remain linked to one aircraft.

“At around 0710 BST protestors cut through a fence at Manchester Airport and gained access to a remote area of the airfield”, the spokesman explained. “They also staged a simultaneous protest at the airport's freight centre. The disruption to the airport's operations was minimal and the airport is open for business as usual.”

Plane Stupid Airport Protest

As these words were being typed, police workers were attempting to get rid of the protestors, while 10 further members of this organisation were demonstrating in the area.

This Plane Stupid airport protest is connected to Manchester’s World Freight Terminal, which is earmarked for expansion over the coming six years. At present, 170,000 tonnes of freight passes though the centre each year, but this is soon set to rise by 80,000 and this, say the campaigners, will impact catastrophically on the environment.

“The airport, which is owned by local councils, has kept local residents in the dark about the proposed expansion plans, failing to adequately inform them that their homes face demolition”, Plane Stupid’s Annie McLaughlin commented, adding that future freight expansion would represent an “environmental disaster.”

Manchester Airport Freight

Manchester International Airport lies in the north west of England and – the London airports aside – is the country’s busiest, handling over 18 million passengers last year. The World Freight Terminal receives cargo from and sends cargo to airports in the US and Asia, in the main.

Plane Stupid’s airport protests have been taking place for some years.

In December 2008, approximately 60 members took part in a Stansted Airport climate change protest.

See also:

Airbus A380 World First for Manchester Airport