PRESS CONTACT: Hannah Lawrence, [email protected] , (+43) 0670 550 09 34 

• More than one hundred people took action at airports across three European countries yesterday.
• Actions took place in Portugal, the UK, and Denmark.
• The actions were a protest against the expansion of the aviation industry and to demand the drastic reduction of aviation.

2nd June 2025 – Yesterday, more than one hundred supporters of Stay Grounded, Climáximo, Scientist Rebellion, and Extinction Rebellion took action in Copenhagen and Billund (Denmark), Lisbon (Portugal) and Farnborough (UK) airports to protest against aviation expansion and to demand a drastic reduction of air traffic.

In Lisbon, dozens of people marched from a roundabout in the proximity to the most polluting infrastructure in the country – Lisbon Airport. There, the protest disrupted – for more than 30 minutes – both road accesses to the airport, calling for an end to the expansion of aviation and the cancellation of the construction of a new airport. Supporters of Climáximo consider this industry “a carbon bomb” which must be stopped and want a “free public renewable transportation system, which can serve people’s real needs”. Six people were arrested and the collective called for a vigil in solidarity.

In Denmark, actions happened at two airports. In Kastrup (Copenhagen), the action began with a banner drop and a sit-in at Terminal 3. As the protest reached its peak, people entered the airport’s departures area, where two dinosaurs danced near the duty-free zone, while others held banners to make their message visible to travellers. Simultaneously, people at Billund were demonstrating outside the airport with banners and speeches, dancing and handing out flyers to travellers.

At Farnborough Airport, people occupied the entrance of the airport holding road blocking banners and attached banners from different local groups to the chain-link perimeter fence which runs alongside the busy public road. The banners read “Private Jets = Public Death”, “Flying to Extinction”, “Tax Frequent Flyers”, “Ban Private Jets”, “Stop Private Flights Now”, “Air Pollution Kills”.

Sean Currie, Stay Grounded campaigner, said: “Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions, with the industry set to expand wildly in the coming decades. It’s also the pinnacle of climate injustice: 1% of the global population is responsible for half of commercial aviation’s emissions, while 80% have never even set foot on airplane.

“Aviation is a clear symbol of globalised, hypermobile fossil capitalism—fuelling not only socially destructive industries like mass tourism but also the expansion of long-distance trade reliant on exploitative supply chains, as well as military operations that entrench geopolitical violence and resource extraction.”

Tim Wodskou from Scientist Rebellion in Denmark said: “While ordinary people are told to sort their trash and eat less meat, airports and private jet owners continue to pollute the atmosphere. Air pollution from planes and airports is literally choking the communities around them.”

Dr Pete Knapp,  XR Scientist at Farnborough airport, said: “Private airports are one of the most egregious examples of inequality in our society, and the planned expansion shows simply that inequality is increasing. Air pollution is one of the many waste products that this hyper-privileged sector of society generates.”

Leonor Canadas, spokesperson for Climáximo, said: “The climate crisis is a premeditated and coordinated act of violence by governments and companies against society and the planet. While rivers are drying, crops failing, people forced to move from their territories or being killed by storms, heatwaves, fires, famine and else, the war criminals keep on investing in a war machine, which includes the aviation sector. They protect their carbon bombs with relentless greenwashing—pushing scams like carbon offsets, so-called sustainable aviation fuels, and other technological fallacies to justify endless growth. But the truth is simple: aviation and the fossil fuel industry are inseparable, and the only real way to cut emissions is to radically reduce air traffic.”

According to the protesters, to halt climate breakdown, a drastic reduction of air traffic is needed in the next five years, ensuring the degrowth of commercial, military and cargo aviation. Short-haul flights and private jets can be eliminated overnight, having no place in a burning world. At the same time, a world free of fossil fuels and planes must be imagined, developing clean and just mobility solutions for everyone.

Leonor said: “The international dimension of this war industry means we need an international movement to dismantle it. International actions such as this are not only inspiring, but very much necessary, if we are to stop the collapse of climate, ecological and social systems. We are living under an emergency and it is imperative that we take urgent international action now. Governments and companies are guilty of this climate war and are not going to stop it. It is up to us, common people across the globe, to implement a people’s plan to cut emissions.”

PRESS CONTACTS:

• Hannah Lawrence, [email protected] , (+43) 0670 550 09 34
• Leonor Canadas, +351 913953435

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

• High quality images are available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nH54gTMSL33aXoVOsaGCuXORSBpiqaBW?usp=sharing
• Stay Grounded is a network of over 200 member initiatives around the world, including community groups surrounding airports, NGOs, and trade unions. The network campaigns for a fair reduction of aviation and for a just mobility system that works for all, now and in the future.