Action Extinction Rebellion ended by order of mayor, some 100 people arrested in total

The demonstration of Extinction Rebellion near Eindhoven Airport on Saturday, March 23, 2024, passed off reasonably peacefully. The mayor indicated around 3:30 pm that he wanted to stop the demonstration, but the activists did not heed this call and remained seated.

Around 3.35 pm the military police began carrying away the demonstrators, and at 4 pm the departure hall was empty. In total, just over a hundred people were detained.

Number of fligts
Part of the action at Eindhoven Airport was about the annual number of flights. The airport recently announced that it will reduce the number of flights to and from Eindhoven Airport from 41,500 to 40,500 per year from 2026. According to Extinction Rebellion, a reduction of just 1,000 flights is a drop in the ocean. To really improve the airport’s effect on the health of local residents and do justice to the current climate crisis, Extinction Rebellion is demanding a halving of the annual number of flights.

Private jets and kerosene
In addition, Extinction Rebellion is demanding that the airport immediately stop flights by private jet. The CO2 emissions from private jets are large. People traveling by private jet make up 1% of the world’s population and cause 50% of global aviation emissions. Eindhoven Airport also recognizes that private jets are polluting. That is why they recently announced that they would ban private jets, but only from 2026. According to Extinction Rebellion, that is not fast enough. The action group also demands that the EU and the government levy taxes on kerosene. Kerosene is currently not taxed. This means that it is financially more attractive to take the plane to Barcelona than the train, while the train emits much less CO2 than the plane.

Little nuisance
The airport reports that the demonstration had little impact on the travelers present. Many airlines had already cancelled, brought forward or moved flights to another airport on Saturday afternoon as a precaution. Eindhoven Airport received no signals that travelers missed their flights because of the action.

Read more on Ed.nl (in Dutch).