Private flights are a thorn in the side of climate activists because of the high per capita emissions. During a protest at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, they mainly block private jets. A medical flight is reportedly unable to land because of them.
After a protest by climate activists at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Dutch police arrested dozens of people. According to the police, activists from the Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion groups had blocked private jets at the airport, the ANP news agency reported. Some apparently chained themselves to planes as well.
Dutch media reports that, among other things, a medical flight with a seriously ill patient that was supposed to land at Schiphol on Saturday could not land because the area was occupied by climate activists.
Around 500 demonstrators had managed to get onto the airport grounds on bicycles, among other things, while others demonstrated in the airport building for fewer flights from Schiphol and in particular against private jets. Residents of the airport, who are fighting against aircraft noise, also joined the protest at the airport.
As Greenpeace announced, the demonstrators had prevented private jets from taking off from Schiphol. With a sit-in under a plane, around two dozen activists blocked a jet that was parked. "We are demanding fewer flights, more trains and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets," said Dewi Zloch of Greenpeace in the Netherlands.
The Greenpeace release also quotes Tessel Hofstede from Extinction Rebellion: "The exceptions that apply to Schiphol and private flights show exactly where the problem lies in dealing with the climate crisis." According to the activist, Schiphol Airport is one of the biggest polluters in the Netherlands, but almost half of the Dutch population never sets foot on an airplane.
"The wealthy 'jet set' is responsible for the most flights and the highest CO2 emissions and nothing is being done about it," the activist said. The average states that private flights are much more harmful to the climate than passenger flights.
