Two days apart in late February, two groups protesting against plans to expand Heathrow took their protest aloft, first at Heathrow and then the House of Commons.
On 25 February, four Greenpeace protesters managed to get onto the airfield at Heathrow and climb on top of the 8.15pm British Airways flight from Manchester. There they unfurled a very large banner saying: "Climate Emergency – No Third Runway – Greenpeace".
A Greenpeace spokesperson said the protest had highlighted a "shocking hole" in BAA security at Heathrow, but added that the demonstration was intended to highlight the greater hole in the government's aviation policy, which sanctions a third runway at Heathrow.
Plane Stupid
Two days later, five campaigners from "Plane Stupid" gained access to the roof of parliament, just before prime minister's questions were due to begin. Once there, they hung long banners down the building, saying: "BAA HQ" and "No 3rd Runway." They made paper aeroplanes out of confidential documents revealing that the government has already decided to build a third runway and a fifth terminal at Heathrow.
These they glided down into the MPs' car park below. They were eventually escorted off the roof by Commons security staff.