Following protesters blocking runways due to climate change, Frankfurt airport suspends flights.
More than 100 planes were cancelled and flights at Germany’s main airport were temporarily delayed on Thursday after climate activists attached themselves to the tarmac.
Numerous protestors reportedly entered the airport early in the morning, according to federal police.
Six demonstrators reportedly broke over the perimeter gate at Frankfurt Airport and approached the runways on foot, bicycle, and skateboard, according to the climate activist group Last Generation.
The airport said on X that all runways were back in use immediately after flight operations started “gradually resuming” about before 8am.
One-tenth of the Thursday’s scheduled flights, or about 140 flights, were cancelled.
This was the Last Generation’s second day of protests in a row. They used the runways at the airports in Cologne-Bonn, Barcelona, Helsinki, and Oslo yesterday.
Why are airports being targeted by climate activists?
This week, demonstrators affiliated with the ‘Oil Kills’ movement are holding protests at airports across Europe.
They claim that they are “demanding our criminal governments phase out oil, gas and coal by 2030 by signing a binding international treaty”.
They are calling on “our governments… to stop extracting and burning oil, gas, and coal by 2030 as well as supporting and financing poorer countries to make a fast, fair, and just transition” through concerted activities throughout Europe.
Protests at airports have often interrupted flights in the past few years. A bill to stiffen punishment for anyone who violate airport perimeters was adopted by the German cabinet last week.
The proposed law, which still needs to be approved by MPs, would punish deliberate trespassing on airport property, such as taxiways or runways, endangering civil aviation, or helping others do so, with sentences of up to two years in prison.
A penalty of up to five years can be applicable in certain circumstances. At the moment, the only punishment for such invasions is fines.
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