Teenage activists from Extinction Rebellion's Youth wing in Bristol boarded and blockaded an Airport Flyer bus as it arrived at Temple Meads Station this afternoon. The action, which began at 2pm, was conducted by protesters as young as 16 and 17 in protest at the ongoing plans to expand Bristol Airport, and against swingeing cuts to regular bus services in Bristol.
The activists hung banners out of the window of the bus, which had just deposited its passengers from the airport to the station, and prevented it from embarking on a return trip to the airport.
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It is the latest in a series of protests and stunts in the long-running battle against the expansion of Bristol Airport, which wants to build a new terminal and increase its capacity from a maximum of around nine million passengers a year to 12 million. The plans were refused by council planners in North Somerset but then granted by a government planning inspector on appeal - a decision which is now being challenged by the local residents and environmentalists in the courts.
In the past, Extinction Rebellion and the airport campaigners have staged 'die-ins' in the site's terminal, blocked the main A38 road outside it and held a number of other stunts and protests there and in Bristol.
The latest action was the first time the bus service which takes passengers to and from the airport has been targeted. The campaigners said they wanted to highlight the fact that, while Bristol Airport was increasing the frequency of buses to the airport, the regular bus services in Bristol were being cut. With a banner reading 'Fair Travel not Air Travel', the activists said they were highlighting the imminent court case, which takes place over two days on Tuesday and Wednesday, and will see Bristol Airport expansion campaigners try to overturn the Government's planning inspector decision to allow the airport to expand.
"This also forms part of Extinction Rebellion Youth Bristol's Free Buses, Fair Buses campaign that was launched in June - in support of the second demand of 'Fair Buses'," a spokesperson for the group said.
"FirstBus has announced plans to cut up to 18 bus routes across the West of England, including the number 5 through St Pauls, Eastville, and Stapleton, and the X2 to Yatton, North Somerset, whilst also increasing the frequency of Airport Flyer buses from Bristol from every 20 to every 12 minutes. XRYB’s demands to the West of England Combined Authority and its constituent local authorities are: Free buses: Free bus travel within the West of England (including North Somerset) for all those under the age of 25, all students, and all apprentices. Fair buses: A consultation and public forum is run to identify improvements to bus routes that would best serve communities," they added.
Torin Menzies, aged 17, was involved in the action at Temple Meads. “We need to revolutionise our public transport, including vastly improving the state of the West of England's frankly awful bus network," she said. "Sadly, FirstBus are more interested in serving the potentially expanding Bristol Airport instead of our local communities, cutting bus routes across the region whilst increasing the Airport Flyer service.
"Bristol Airport expansion will increase flights and emissions at a time of climate emergency, as well as worsening air quality, and FirstBus are actively supporting these plans. What we need is fair travel, not air travel," she added.
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