Belgian police successfully stopped climate activists from a group called Code Red from occupying the runways at several airports during their “mass action against aviation” on December 16 and 17, preventing possible damage to business aviation aircraft using the airfields. Several hundred protesters were arrested, according to local media.
Code Red, a civil disobedience group, organized protests at Antwerp, Kortrijk, and Liege airports last weekend as part of their #PeopleNotFlights campaign, which denounces the aviation sector as “a polluting industry that disrespects human rights and whose growth seems unstoppable.”
The industry had expected that Brussels International Airport would be the focal point of the protests. The activists, however, opted to target the country’s regional airports that handle private aviation or boast a steep growth. Antwerp Deurne accommodated 6,692 business aviation flights in 2022, according to European Business Aviation Association data, Kortrijk-Wevelgem almost 4,000 flights, and Liege about 3,100.
“Antwerp airport primarily serves a privileged elite for their private jets, and the craziest thing of all is that this airport would not survive without subsidies,” Code Red said in social media posts.
The group’s protesters tried to enter the airport from different sides on Saturday but were prevented from doing so by police. About 30 people managed to get onto the tarmac airport grounds after cutting the fence, but they were detained before reaching parked aircraft or the runway. Nonetheless, no business aviation flights departed or landed at the airport on the day of the protest.
In Liege, Code Red protested against the rapid expansion of the airport. While business aviation accounts for only a small portion of its activity, the airport is one of Europe’s fastest-growing cargo airports and serves as a hub for Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Activists occupied the Alibaba distribution center before being removed and arrested by police on Sunday morning.