Reports: London Stansted Airport Runway Closed over Deportations to Nigeria

The runway at London’s Stansted airport was temporarily closed on Tuesday after a protest organisers said was aimed at stopping deportations to Nigeria. Eight inbound flights were diverted after the runway was closed at around 10:00pm (2100 GMT) “while police dealt with a number of individuals who had entered a remote area of the airfield”, an airport spokesman said.

“The situation was quickly contained but the police carried out a full inspection of the airfield in advance of confirming it was safe to recommence flight operations at 11:17pm,” he added. A video published on a “Stop Charter Flights – End Deportations” Facebook page showed a group of people lying next to a plane, chanting: “No borders, no nations, stop deportations”. The group claimed the Nigeria-bound flight had been cancelled as a result of their protest. Stansted airport was unable to confirm the flight status as it was a private charter and not operated from the main passenger terminal, the spokesman said.

London Stansted, north-east of the city, is one of five airports serving the British capital.