Climate protest targets private jets of Taylor Swift and others at British airport

A day after the attack on Stonehenge, climate activists gained access to a British airport on Thursday and sprayed private jets with orange paint.

Environmental protest group Just Stop Oil claimed that US pop star Taylor Swift’s private jet had landed at Stansted Airport “just hours earlier”.

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Taylor Swift has been criticized for her use of private jets.

However, Essex Police said her plane was not at the airport northeast of London at the time of the incident. Swift is currently on tour in the UK.

Police said they had arrested two women, aged 22 and 28, on suspicion of criminal damage and disruption of public infrastructure.

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The couple, identified by Just Stop Oil as Jennifer Kowalski, 28, and Cole Macdonald, 22, used fire extinguishers filled with orange paint to spray two private jets, a statement said.

It said it would call on the next British government after the general election on July 4 to make a legal commitment to phase out the use of fossil fuels by 2030.

In a post on X, Just Stop Oil added: “Jennifer and Cole have cut the fence to the private airport at Stansted where @taylorswift13’s jet is parked and are calling for an emergency deal to end fossil fuels by 2030.”

The accompanying video showed one of the activists cutting a hole in the fence before spraying the paint over the nozzles.

Taylor Swift was condemned by environmental activists for using gas-guzzling private jets.

In 2022, she topped a list of “the worst private jet carbon emitters” among celebrities published by British sustainability marketing firm Yard.

Their jet flew 170 times in 2022, with total flight emissions that year reaching 8,293.54 tonnes, 1,184.8 times more than the average citizen, Yard said.

The protest in Stansted came a day after activists sprayed Stonehenge, the prehistoric UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwest England, with an orange substance.

According to Just Stop Oil, two activists “painted Stonehenge with orange powder paint,” a stunt that was strongly condemned by politicians and heritage conservation organizations.

Wiltshire Police arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument. They were released on bail pending further investigations, police said on Thursday.