Activists from the Belgian citizens' collective Doe Deurne Dicht ("Close the Deurne", its name referring the third largest airport In Belgium) in collaboration with the Extinction Rebellion movement blocked the access road to Antwerp Deurne Airport. The action was part of a protest in which the activists are demanding the closure of the airport and the creation of a new 190 ha park in its place.

Activist groups expressed concerns about noise, air pollution, CO2 emissions and the tax money spent on the airport. Participants in the protest argued that only the privileged few benefit from the airport. They chanted protest slogans and set up a wooden tripod on the road.

"A large park on almost two hundred hectares of land should be built instead. We are paying a huge price for this airport: noise, pollution, CO2 emissions and millions of euros coming straight out of taxpayers’ pockets, and this, while very few people, especially the elite, are using it. It’s unfair," Doe Deurne Dicht's spokeswoman Ruth-Marie argued.

The reaction of the authorities to the protest was immediate. The police quickly intervened, preventing a complete blockade of the airport and arresting 43 activists and reopening the access road.

Source: Aviation24.be