Activists of the Code Rouge movement are planning action against the aviation sector in Belgium on the weekend of December 15 to 17.
Code Rouge is a civil disobedience and activist group that says climate and social policies that are fair for citizens and workers are overdue. It claims aviation disproportionately affects the global majority, while its main beneficiaries are the 1% who often do not have to suffer its harmful effects. It’s a group that has previously targeted TotalEnergies and Engie, and now it’s targeting aviation, which it describes as “a polluting industry that disrespects human rights and whose growth seems unstoppable”.
Now, airline and airport players fear that Code Rouge’s coming disruptive action, details of which remain vague, could be a threat to schedules and security at Belgian airports, and it is feared the protesters might trespass on runways and aprons, according to aviation.be.
Liège Airport and Brussels Airport are implementing higher security measures in anticipation, in collaboration with Belgium’s federal police.
Similar actions have occurred in Europe targeting airports, Schiphol and many German airports among them. But airlines are now lashing back at activists as the protest actions have resulted in considerable expense to the carriers.
According to euronews.com, activist group Last Generation now faces a claim from Lufthansa-owned budget airline Eurowings for €120 000 (R2,45 million) in damages for the disruption the Last Generation protesters caused at German airports.
“Eurowings will claim material damages for the airlines of the Lufthansa Group that were caused by the actions of activists at the airports in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Hamburg,” a Lufthansa Group spokesperson said in a statement shared with Euronews Green.
The damages relate to blockades at Berlin, Düsseldorf and Hamburg airports between November 2022 and July 2023. Activists blocked runways to highlight the damaging impact of flying. In November 2022, all flights came to a halt as Last Generation members paralysed air traffic at Berlin Brandenburg Airport for almost two hours by blockading runways. Ten Lufthansa Group flights were cancelled and more than 20 were delayed.
In December, activists glued their hands to the tarmac in Berlin and Munich, resulting in minor delays and a temporary ban on climate gatherings in the Bavarian capital.
More than 80 Lufthansa Group flights were disrupted by the Last Generation protests at Hamburg and Düsseldorf airports in July. Düsseldorf Airport has filed a criminal complaint against Last Generation for “dangerous interference with air traffic, disruption of public operations, damage to property, coercion and trespassing”.
