News / France

Nantes protesters demonstrate against airport development project

Saturday, 09 January 2016 6:04 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 09 January 2016 6:05 PM ]

Opponents of the project for the creation of the international airport Notre-Dame-des-Landes near Nantes demonstrate on the peripheral road of Nantes, western France, on January 9, 2015. (AFP photo)

In Nantes, western France, thousands of people have protested against an airport development project that relocates nearly a dozen families against their will.

The demonstration on Saturday caused major disruption to traffic on the Nantes ring road and blocked roads in the area.

Protesters called for the cancellation of expulsion orders handed to 11 families and four farmers living at the airport development site.

Demonstrators also blocked access to the Nantes Atlantique International Airport.

Opponents of the project for the creation of the international airport Notre-Dame-des-Landes near Nantes demonstrate on the peripheral road of Nantes, western France, January 9, 2015. (AFP photo)

The Saturday protest was held in a peaceful atmosphere.

Approved in 2008, the 580-million-euro (USD 747 million) project had been due to start in 2014 but was repeatedly delayed due to fierce opposition by environmental activists.

Protesters have been in a legal battle with city officials calling for the cancellation of the construction of the airport project on swampland outside Nantes.

The protest was held two months after an announcement by regional authorities that the massive construction project, which has been on hold for nearly three years, would resume in 2016.

Opponents of the project for the creation of an international airport just outside Nantes, western France, protest as they cycle in the direction of Nantes, January 9, 2015, in Notre-Dame-des-Landes. (AFP photo)

The project involves transferring the Nantes Atlantique to a 1,650-hectare (4,000-acre) site of protected swampland just outside the city, a move that developers say will provide a major boost to tourism in western France.

In February 2014, more than 20,000 people took part in a protest against the project that deteriorated into clashes with police.

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