Nine in court after airport shut

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Nine alleged protestors have appeared in court charged with vandalism and breach of the peace.

The five men and four women were arrested and taken into custody following disruption at Aberdeen Airport on Tuesday.

It is claimed they were involved in the anti-aviation Plane Stupid campaign at the airport.

All nine made no plea or declaration and were released on bail. They are expected to face trial later this year.

Dan Glass, 25, Jonny Agnew, 22, both of Glasgow, 25-year-old Mark Andrews, of Edinburgh, James Kerr, 34, of Paisley and Bill Boggia, 43, of Aberdeen were all charged with breach of the peace and vandalism.

Kate Mackay, 20, Emilia Kawowska, 19, Tilly Gifford, 24, Josie Hanson, 25, all from Glasgow face the same charges. We stand here today happy to be free and proud of our actions in highlighting the role aviation plays in the climate change crisis Dan Glass

The airport was shut down for two and a half hours on Tuesday morning.

Out of 350 flights scheduled for the day, 10 were disrupted.

Flights to Heathrow, Paris and Amsterdam were among those delayed by the protest.

Speaking outside the court, Dan Glass said: "We stand here today happy to be free and proud of our actions in highlighting the role aviation plays in the climate change crisis which we are starting to experience as individuals, as a nation and as a planet.

"Aviation expansion is irresponsible and unnecessary.

"It will destroy the government's attempts to implement an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions proposed by 2050 and sets us firmly on the wrong path by locking us into a high carbon economy rather than taking immediate action to set us on the road to long-term sustainability.

"As a country we have the opportunity to tackle this climate crisis.

"Our country has the talent, the technology, the brains, the wisdom to act upon this knowledge.

"And most importantly we have the increasing numbers of people, a broad section of the population, who know that talk is cheap and action is both necessary and achievable."