Summary
- Climate activists vandalized a private jet at Stockholm’s Bromma Airport in protest against the excessive use of private jets by high-net-worth individuals.
- Swedish police arrested 17 or 18 individuals involved in the incident, suspecting them of airport sabotage and breaching airport security.
- Extinction Rebellion claimed responsibility for the action, calling for stricter controls on private jets and urgent action to combat the climate crisis.
Climate protesters have been arrested at Stockholm’s Briomma Airport after vandalizing a private jet amid Europe-wide climate protests.
Details of the incident
Swedish police have arrested several climate activists after vandalizing a private jet at Stockholm’s Bromma Airport over the weekend. The incident, which reportedly took place yesterday morning (Sunday, 17th September), occurred as other similar protests took place across Europe, highlighting the issue of climate change.
As reported by Time News and others, a group of climate protesters managed to access the airfield early on Sunday morning and sprayed paint on an aircraft in a protest linked to the excessive use of private jets by high-net-worth individuals.
The action carried out by the activists formed part of a comprehensive global campaign seeking a ban on the use of private jets. In addition to spraying red paint on the parked aircraft, the activists reportedly also sprayed red paint and fixed copies of various research articles relating to the climate crisis around one of the airport’s hangars.
The hangar is owned by a company that operates air taxi and ambulance flights from the airport.
Arrest made following illegal action
Stockholm police reported that they had arrested 17 or 18 individuals involved in the incident. Speaking to reporters about the incident, Per Fahlström, spokesperson for the police, said,
“Several people have been on the airport grounds and, in connection with that, sprayed paint on an aircraft. The arrested persons are reasonable suspects with a lower degree of suspicion and are suspected of airport sabotage.”
When asked how the activists gained access to the airfield, Fahlström replied that he did not know at that stage.
Robert Pletzin, the Press Manager for Swedavia (the company that owns and operates ten airports across Sweden, including Bromma), confirmed that the activists had not breached the airport’s protected area and that regular air traffic at the airport had been unaffected by the incident.
That said, he admitted that an inbound air ambulance flight had been forced to divert from Bromma to Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport while the incident was dealt with.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing as the authorities continue to determine how the activists managed to breach airport security.
Who was behind the protest?
This latest incident at Bromma Airport highlights the growing frustration among environmentalists worldwide regarding the harmful effects of air travel on the planet and the use of private jets in particular.
In a statement issued by the action group Extinction Rebellion (XR), the organization claimed responsibility for the action at Bromma Airport. It stated that it was part of a “global campaign calling for a ban on private jets.”
The statement continued to state the intentions behind the action were to emphasize the group’s call for stricter controls on private jets and the need for urgent action to combat the climate crisis.
Not the first time private jets have been targeted
The incident at Bromma marks a continuation of XR’s policy of targeting private jets and the use thereof.
In February of this year, protesters claiming to be part of XR blockaded several entrances to two private jet terminals at London Luton Airport to demand the UK government take urgent action to ban private jets, tax frequent flyers, and introduce legislation that would make wealthy polluters pay more.
Elsewhere in Europe, over a dozen protesters from the Last Generation activist group were arrested in Berlin after spraying orange paint onto the iconic Brandenburg Gate amid worldwide protests demanding governments stop burning planet-heating fossil fuels.
Police cordoned off the area surrounding Brandenburg Gate and confirmed they detained 14 activists affiliated with the Last Generation organization. These demonstrations were among hundreds of events taking place worldwide this past weekend ahead of this year’s UN General Assembly meeting, which is expected to be dominated by issues relating to climate change.
Photo: Gulfstream Aeriospace
With calls for further research into greener alternatives to aviation fuel increasingly leading to direct action such as that seen at Bromma Airport, it remains to be seen how such global campaigns will impact the broader aviation industry, particularly international government policies relating to private jets.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Time News, Aviation24