Air traffic disruption: Climate protest at airports – Several flights cancelled

Disruptive actions by climate activists of the last generation have led to flight cancellations at German airports. According to the organization, two activists each entered the airports in Berlin-Brandenburg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Cologne/Bonn. Flight operations in Cologne/Bonn and Nuremberg were temporarily interrupted as a result. This resulted in cancellations and delays, the airports announced.

In Cologne/Bonn, operations were suspended for “a good hour” and 16 flights were cancelled, a spokesman said. In Nuremberg, flight operations were interrupted for around an hour and 15 minutes, according to a spokesman for the airport there. One flight and its return flight were cancelled, six flights were delayed, and a flight diverted to Prague arrived in Nuremberg late, the spokesman reported. At the airports in Berlin and Stuttgart, it was said that flight operations were not affected.

The eight activists from the climate group were taken into custody, police said. The activists had gained access to the airports between 5:10 and 5:45 a.m. through holes in fences and then glued themselves to the premises. In Nuremberg, for example, they were on the taxiway – the area between the apron and the runway.

According to the statement, Last Generation said the activists “expressed their opposition peacefully by displaying banners reading ‘Oil kills’ and ‘Sign the treaty'”. “No one entered the runways.”

Demand for a complete abandonment of coal, oil and gas

The group is calling for radical climate protection, including the complete abandonment of coal, oil and gas. They are calling for the conclusion of an international treaty to this effect. Since the beginning of 2022, the group has been organizing road blockades in which participants glued themselves to the road. In the meantime, however, they had announced that they would change their strategy and refrain from gluing themselves to the road in the future. The climate activists have recently carried out several disruptive actions at airports, including at Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt at the end of July.

After the protests, there were renewed calls for harsher punitive measures. The actions were “a concerted act of criminal blackmail,” said Ralph Beisel, CEO of the airport association ADV, according to the statement. These were “criminal offenses” that must be “consistently sanctioned” by the judiciary, said Beisel. The cabinet decision to tighten the Aviation Security Act must be passed “immediately” by the Bundestag.

With the planned reform, the federal government wants to prevent radical climate activists and other troublemakers from carrying out dangerous actions at airports. The core of the reform is the creation of a new regulation that criminalizes “intentional, unauthorized intrusion” onto the taxiway and runways, among other things – especially if this compromises the safety of civil aviation.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) strongly condemned the actions and also held the airports responsible on Platform X. “These criminal actions are dangerous and stupid,” wrote Faeser. “We have proposed severe prison sentences. And we are requiring the airports to secure their facilities much better.”

The ADV said that the airports’ multi-level security concept, with the fencing as one component, had proven successful. Air traffic was immediately halted. “The reporting and alarm chains are working reliably,” said General Manager Beisel.

Offer of discussion to the last generation

The ADV made the climate activists an offer to talk last week. In an open letter, it said: “It is undeniable that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Criminal blockades of airports do not contribute to the solution.” The Last Generation announced on X that it would gladly accept the offer to talk.