Climate Activists Vandalize Jets at Airport Where Taylor Swift’s Plane Is Parked

Video shows a person cutting a hole in the fence to gain access to the airplanes and another spraying a small jet with a light coat of orange paint.

According to authorities, there was a brief traffic interruption at the airport and two protestors were arrested following the incident. [Screenshot/ Just Stop Oil]

Activists from Just Stop Oil claim to have cut through a fence to access the airfield of London Stansted Airport (EGSS) in the U.K. on Thursday morning to spray paint private aircraft to draw attention to climate change and protest against carbon emissions from those types of airplanes.

According to Bloomberg, one of the aircraft at the location is a private jet belonging to megastar pop music artist Taylor Swift. However, airport officials noted that there was "nothing to suggest" Swift’s aircraft was one of the ones targeted.

Swift has been on tour since March 2023. Up until earlier this year, she utilized two Dassault Falcons. According to a statement her publicist made to Bloomberg News earlier this year, she purchased the carbon offsets equivalent to double her travel emissions (estimated at 1,216 metric tons of carbon dioxide last year) before the tour began.

One of the Just Stop Oil protestors, identified as Cole Macdonald, 22, from Brighton, England, made a statement referencing one of Swift's songs.

“This system that is allowing extreme wealth to be accrued by a few, to the detriment of everyone else, is destroying the conditions necessary to support human life in a rapidly accelerating, never-ending ‘cruel summer,’” Macdonald said.

According to authorities, there was a brief traffic interruption at the airport and two protestors were arrested. Officials stated security at the airport will be increased this summer to prevent further vandalism.

Video was posted on social media showing a person cutting a hole in the fence to gain access to the airplanes and another spraying a small jet with a light coat of orange paint.

There was no report of damage to the aircraft or an estimate for the cost of cleanup.

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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