Environmental activists were back at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport on Thursday evening, this time to cause damage to the exterior windows.
The Montreal Police Department (SPVM) arrived at the scene around 6 p.m. to support Aéroports de Montréal Airport Security, as a small group of protesters sprayed paint on the airport’s exterior windows.
The SPVM confirmed in the evening that a 25-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were arrested for these crimes, then released on a promise to appear in court.
Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) indicated by email to The Canadian Press that the demonstration had “no impact” on operations.
“While we respect everyone’s right to express themselves, we consider it unacceptable to vandalize a public facility,” the ADM also stressed.
“As our organization is well committed to sustainable development, we deplore that the site was targeted by this act when it is a much broader societal debate.”
This incident is the second in as many days targeting Montreal-Trudeau International Airport. On Wednesday morning, environmental activists demanding an end to any new fossil fuel mining projects disrupted access to the facility, including by gluing their hands to the ground on one of the lanes leading to the Montreal airport’s landing stage. Three protesters were arrested.
On social media, the group “The Last Generation” claimed to be behind these protests.
“This action comes as devastating images of wildfire damage are coming in from across the country,” the group said on Facebook. “We know oil kills and we need to act now. We’re running out of time.”
Environmental groups claimed responsibility for similar actions on Wednesday and Thursday at various European airports.
A total of 270 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt airport in Germany on Thursday after environmental activists broke through barriers early in the morning and stuck to the tarmac at various locations.
On Wednesday, climate activists held or attempted similar actions in Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Spain.