The Heathrow operator, BAA, will today seek "the mother of all injunctions" at the high court to prevent thousands of people affiliated to environmental organisations from attending a protest at the airport.
BAA wants to ban the Camp for Climate Action demonstration planned at Heathrow from August 14 to 21.
The company says it wants to "protect the airport and the safety of passengers and staff against the planned direct action by environmental activists".
But environmental groups accuse BAA of "corporate bullying" designed to shut down peaceful protest.
"They are trying to bully over 5 million people who are critical of their plans to massively increase their output of greenhouse gases," said Joss Garman of the anti-aviation group Plane Stupid, one of the groups named in the BAA court action.
The injunction application, seen by the Guardian, seeks to impose bans on people travelling on the Piccadilly line on the London Underground, on mainline trains and on motorways.
The London mayor, Ken Livingstone, has accused BAA of being "out of their skull" and paving the way for hardcore protesters to invade the climate action camp.
John Stewart, the chairman of the Heathrow anti-noise and anti-expansion organisation Hacan, said: "This is the mother of all injunctions.
"The aviation executives who dreamed up this one should be spending their time and money reducing the huge impact of aviation on the climate and local communities, instead of trying to put legal shackles on people who want to protest peacefully."
Heathrow has been targeted by climate change campaigners as the government prepares to start the formal process of building a third runway. The runway proposal is backed by ministers, airlines and business leaders but opposed by local residents and green activists, who say expansion will contravene environmental policy.
Kate Harrison, of Matrix chambers, who is representing some of the people and groups named in the injunction, said: "You have to go back to the miners' strike [in the 1980s] to find an injunction on this scale."
Mr Stewart's lawyer, Gita Parihar, from Friends of the Earth, said: "This is an unworkable request by Heathrow airport and we are confident it will be thrown out of court."
A BAA spokesman said: "We are throwing the net very wide to make sure the airport can operate securely. People have rights to protest but people also have the right to go on holiday too.
"Legally, if you take it [the injunction] to its very extreme, it does mean that people cannot go to the airport to protest. But that is not realistic."
Up to 1,000 protesters and local residents are expected to attend the camp at a site to be announced. One day has been set aside for "direct action".
BAA's legal move comes amid mounting criticism of the company's stewardship of it's airports in greater London. The new City minister, Kitty Ussher, has joined Mr Livingstone and business leaders in condemning Heathrow for being unable to cope with the number of passengers and providing such a poor service that it was undermining London's status as a major financial centre. The Ryanair boss, Michael O'Leary, has attacked poor service and extortionate charges at Stansted.
Criticisms against BAA have led the Competition Commission to launch an investigation into the company's London monopoly, which includes Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports.
