Local residents and climate activists have blocked access to Farnborough Airport to protest against the proposed expansion of the airport which they say will almost double the number of private jet flights to 70,000 a year.
Scores of campaigners from Extinction Rebellion, Farnborough Noise campaign group, Blackwater Valley Friends of the Earth and Alton Climate Action Network joined local councillors and local residents, to voice their opposition to the plans, which they say blatantly ignore the climate crisis.
The protest follows a consultation period on Farnborough Airport’s expansion plans which ended in October 2024 drawing fierce opposition from local residents and environmental campaigners.
It comes a year after Greta Thunberg marched alongside campaigners at the airport over the same concerns.
The proposals include doubling the airport’s annual weekend flight limit from 8,900 to 18,900 flights and upping its annual flight limit from 50,000 to 70,000 flights.
Rushmoor Borough Council has yet to make a decision on the proposed increase.
In a statement, Extinction Rebellion said that the 33,120 private jet flights to and from the airport in 2024 carried an average of 2.5 passengers, with each passenger responsible for the emission of nine times as much carbon as an economy flight to the US and 20 times that to Spain.
“For the limited benefit it provides to a small number of people, private aviation has a disproportionately large impact on climate change due to its high carbon emissions,” it said.
“Per passenger mile, flying in a private jet is the most inefficient and most carbon-intensive mode of transport. Itepitomises the worst of climate injustice, where a few people emit large amounts of carbon for the sake of a journey that can be taken by a scheduled flight or, in many cases, by train.
Steve Williams, Environment Portfolio Holder for Waverley Borough Council, says “aviation has no realistic prospect of becoming sustainable in the near future, so any form of airport expansion is unacceptable, given the climate crisis.
Expansion at Farnborough is particularly iniquitous because of the impact on the locality nearby and the massive carbon footprint of the privileged few who choose to travel by private jet.”
The protest comes after the Government announced plans to boost UK economic growth through airport expansion and the use of sustainable air fuel.
Campaigners fear the potential use of the 2nd runway at Gatwick will adversely affect the locality, as will the building of a third runway at Heathrow airport.
A spokesman for Farnborough Airport has previously addressed the concerns : “Farnborough Airport is an important gateway for business aviation connectivity with the majority of flights being operated for business and corporate travel purposes.
“The airport’s environmental footprint is a fraction that of a traditional commercial airport, yet it serves as one of the largest employment sites in the region.
“We recognise the importance of continually reducing our environmental impact and we are only one of a small number of UK airports to have achieved Level 4+ under the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.”