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Press Release
22/3/12 for immediate use
Saturday 24th March: Tens of Thousands expected at Nationwide Protests against Airport Expansion in Germany
Same Day: Major demonstration in Nantes in SW France
UK campaigners send messages of support
UK airport campaigners have sent messages of support to their fellow campaigners in Germany and France who will be staging major demonstrations against airport expansion on Saturday 24th March. In Germany tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out in at least five cities. In Frankfurt as many as 20,000 people could occupy the terminal. And, in Munich the campaigners against the proposed third runway will hold as picnic in the terminal. In Nantes the demonstrators will occupy the centre of the city.
The big demonstrations in Frankfurt have been sparked by the impact of the fourth runway opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel in October. Every Monday evening since it opened up to 5,000 people have occupied the terminal at the airport in protest against the noise of the new flight paths (1). Their Saturday demonstrations have attracted as many as 20,000 residents.
In Munich climate change activists and local residents have joined forces to fight the proposed third runway. In Berlin the protests are against a newly-opened airport. At Cologne and Leipzig night flights are the big problem. In France the demonstration is part of a long-running, high-profile campaign to stop the building of Nantes International Airport.
HACAN Chair John Stewart, who has visited the campaigners in Munich, Frankfurt and Nantes, said: “These protests give the lie to the impression always given by the UK aviation industry that airports in Europe will continue to expand. It is clear that it is becoming virtually impossible to build a new runway anywhere in Western Europe.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
(1). Video of earlier Frankfurt protest FLUGLÄRM 2011 – DER JAHRESRÜCKBLICK
www.youtube.com
For further information:
John Stewart 0207 737 6641; 07957385650
Florian Sperk (Munich) 017683079549
Martin Kessel (Frankfurt) 01219527053
Julien Durant (Nantes) 0240572562