London’s Metropolitan Police arrested nearly 850 people related to climate change protests around the city over the past four days, including a former Paralympic cyclist who climbed atop a British Airways plane at London City Airport, according to the BBC.
James Brown, a visually impaired former cyclist, climbed atop the fuselage of the plane and livestreamed it as part of the Extinction Rebellion campaign. Brown was booked on the Amsterdam-bound flight, according to the airport.
{mosads}Another flight, this one bound for Dublin, was delayed about two hours when, while the plane was at the end of the runway, a protester began to walk down the aisle while discussing climate change. The crew alerted the pilot when the protester refused to sit down, after which police escorted him off the plane, according to the BBC.
The protests have been minimally disruptive to airport operations thus far, according to the BBC. The airport said as of Thursday afternoon, more than 100 flights had arrived or departed.
“We continue to work closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure the safe operation of the airport, which remains fully open and operational,” a spokesperson told the BBC.
Activists have said they aim for a “Hong Kong-style occupation of the terminal building” amid the airport’s planned expansion, which they say is incompatible with government plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. John Curran, a former Metropolitan Police detective, was among the 49 arrested at the airport.