Last generation
Climate activists at airports: disruptions to flight operations

Climate activists of the last generation protest on the grounds of Stuttgart Airport. Photo
© Marius Bulling/dpa
Last generation activists are demanding more climate protection and a treaty against fossil fuels. They are temporarily preventing take-offs and landings with protests at several airports.
According to police, flight operations at Cologne/Bonn Airport had to be temporarily suspended as a result of the protest. The airport said that there could still be delays even after the protests resumed. The activists had gained access to the airside area of the airport grounds. A hole was discovered in a fence on the grounds.
According to a police spokesman, flight operations in Nuremberg were also halted for about an hour. According to police, two climate activists had entered the airport’s runway early in the morning. A dpa reporter on site reported a hole in the fence in the southern part of the runway. Two bolt cutters were lying nearby.
According to the Brandenburg state police, two people aged 21 and 22 glued themselves to the grounds of Berlin Airport. They were released shortly afterwards and taken into custody. The police are now investigating for damage to the fence, trespassing and violation of the Aviation Security Act. Both are known to the police “from similar offenses.” The police did not provide any information on the gender of the activists.
Demand for a complete abandonment of coal, oil and gas
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.”
The Last Generation 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 also recently carried out several disruptive actions at airports, including at Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt at the end of July.
Tougher laws should deter
The federal government wants to tighten up the Aviation Security Act in order to prevent radical climate activists and other troublemakers from carrying out dangerous actions at airports. The core of the planned reform, which the Bundestag still has to decide on, is the creation of a new regulation that criminalizes “intentional, unauthorized intrusion” onto the runway and the taxiway – especially if this compromises the safety of civil aviation.