Hundreds of climate activists block private planes in Schiphol and some are chained to planes | Abroad

The operatives are under the wings and fuselage, making them difficult to remove. Dozens of people are also roaming around the planes. A spokesperson for the National Ports Agency said the intent was that no private flights would be allowed to take off from Schiphol throughout the day. “Schiphol has to be greatly reduced. It doesn’t make sense that so many private flights leave the airport every day.”

Meanwhile, many activists are being turned away from under the planes and taken from the airport in buses. There are still groups of about thirty people under most private jets. There is no hostile atmosphere.

Private jets fly to and from Schiphol from its own runway. Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace activists gathered this morning in nearby Amsterdam Boss, carrying banners and flags. There were texts such as “Climate SOS” and “Flights are no longer possible”. Another group arrived at the airport at the same time from the other side by bicycle. According to RTL Nieuws, the Schiphol car park gates have opened.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred protesters also staged a noisy “sitting session” in the airport shopping mall. They made their message clear with drums and triangles: more trains, fewer planes. You can hear “We can’t be stopped, another world is possible.” They also demand “climate justice”. Meanwhile, sympathizers applaud.

Locals at Rotterdam Airport are also taking part in the event. They are doing a signature campaign against growth plans. They fear a poor living environment due to increased noise pollution, more emissions of unhealthy substances and lack of sleep.

Schiphol security leaves the activists at Schiphol Plaza alone for now. The guards watch things from a distance.

Figures from research agency CE Delft commissioned by Greenpeace show that more private flights took off from Schiphol and Rotterdam in the first nine months of this year than in all of 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic. According to the flight data, more than a third of those flights were shorter than 500 kilometers and nearly 11 percent were shorter than 250 kilometers. Emissions per passenger on a private flight are about five times higher than those on a scheduled flight.