Planned expansion of Noonu Maafaru Airport (Maldives) was halted as land reclamation would lead to loss of a large area of lagoon. Land reclamation for coastal airports also destroys ecosystems. Two proposed airport projects threaten large-scale deforestation, Mopa Airport (India) and Nepal’s Nijgadh Airport which raises the prospect of 2.4 million trees being felled. One of the most serious cases of deforestation in Sri Lanka occurred in the area where Mattala Airport was subsequently constructed. Site clearance for many airport projects obliterates wildlife habitats and biodiversity. Farmers whose land was bulldozed without warning for a cargo airport in Ekiti (Nigeria) secured a court ruling that forcible takeover of their land was illegal and ordering payment for damages. Impacted communities have also secured partial victories, such as increased compensation for land acquisition in the cases of Sentani Airport (Indonesia) and Bhogapuram Airport and Aerocity (India), with the latter being an example of activism successfully reducing the land area allocated to the project. The prospect, or actuality, of airport schemes being re-instigated means affected communities endure ongoing uncertainty and distress. But in many cases opposition to an airport development results in the project being stalled rather than stopped, such as third runways at Heathrow Airport and Vienna Airport. New Mexico City Airport was halted after construction works destroyed a large swathe of wetlands. An airport on Koh Phangan Island (Thailand) was stopped after forest was illegally cleared for the project. New airports threatening destruction of farmland in Nantes (France) and Aranmula Greenfield Airport (India) have been halted, along with a major new airport that would have paved over a large swath of the Arial Beel wetlands in Bangladesh. The map showcases a number of inspirational victories against airport projects. Suicides by people facing displacement for airport projects are documented in the cases of Bhogapuram and Salem airports in India.
Local organisations opposing construction of an airport in Creel (Mexico) have denounced the death of an indigenous leader, just days before a planned demonstration at the site, as a state crime. There are several incidences of conflicts between affected communities and state forces resulting in deaths and injuries, including at a proposed major new airport on the Arial Beel wetlands (Bangladesh), Mieu Mon military airport (Vietnam) and Lombok Airport (Indonesia). Many communities resisting displacement have suffered state repression: forced evictions, harassment, intimidation, arrests, imprisonment and violence. Examples include Purandar Airport and Navi Mumbai Airport in India and Ogun Cargo Airport in Nigeria. Allocation of large sites, often farmland and fishing grounds, for airport projects, means entire communities, in some instances thousands of people residing in multiple villages, face loss of their homes and livelihoods. The key issue in the majority of the cases is land acquisition. Examples include Nijgadh Airport (Nepal), Kertajati Airport and New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) (Indonesia), Bhogapuram Airport and Aerocity, Purandar Airport, Shivdaspura Aero City and Andal Aerotropolis (India), a second airport on Jeju Island (South Korea), New Phnom Penh Airport (Cambodia), Sanya Hongtangwan Airport (China), Vernamfield Aerotropolis (Jamaica), Central Transport Hub (Poland), Northwest Florida Beaches Airport (USA) and Hamilton Airport (Canada). Several of the cases are aerotropolis (airport city) projects: airports surrounded by aviation-dependent commercial and industrial development. The map also includes cargo airports, four of which are for delivery of equipment for fossil fuel projects: Komo Airport to serve Papua New Guinea’s PNG LNG project, Hoima Airport to support oil development on the shore of Lake Albert in Uganda and Suai Airport serving oil platforms off the coast of Timor-Leste. Many passenger-oriented airport projects aim to increase tourism, such as the proposed Mondulkiri Airport in Cambodia and Fainu Airport in the Maldives, along with Chinchero Airport already under construction and aiming to increase the number of visitors to Machu Picchu in Peru.
Injustices arise from new airports and expansion of existing airports. Affected communities contend with a multitude of injustices: forced eviction, land dispossession, destruction of ecosystems, construction work impacts and health damage from pollution. The map brings together case studies documenting a diversity of injustice related to airport projects across the world. Mapping Airport-related Injustice and Resistance