In a bid to halt the proposed expansion of freight handling facilities at UK’s Manchester Airport climate change protesters have cut through an airport perimeter fence and attached themselves to the wheels of an aircraft.

The protest started at around 07:00 when six protesters gained access to the airfield by cutting a hole in the perimeter fence. A banner with the slogan: ‘More air freight = more climate change – Stop all airport expansion now’ was raised by another group of around 10 protesters at the airport entrance. Luckily flights were only disrupted for about 20 minutes while security dealt with the intrusion.

The airport freight terminal currently processes around 170,000 tonnes of inbound and outbound freight every year. By 2015 the airport expects to increase that amount to around 250,000 tonnes per year.

The climate protesters have claimed that the council owned airport have not kept local people informed of the intended expansion plans and their implications. The climate campaigners claim that the proposed expansion makes no sense, environmentally or ecomonically and they point out that it will likely mean that some home will need to be demolished The environmental campaigners have pointed out that the current Manchester airport freight handling capacity is currently under-utilised and that the planned expansion could be a stepping stone toward further airport expansion.

This latest protest comes right after protesters have claimed a victory over the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport over which a high court judge has ordered a review.

The tactics employed by the Plane Stupid campaigners have received some criticism. The Plane Stupid action group are responsible for disrupting the travel plans of many thousands of people. The actions of this protest group have highlighted serious security issues at various British airports. Since it is apparently easy for a group of peaceful protesters to gain access to an aircraft can we be confident that others with more sinister intentions are not doing the same?

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