Eight climate activists arrested in Germany over airport protest
Eight climate activists have been arrested after causing Munich airport to close, leading to about 60 flight cancellations.
Six activists broke through a security fence and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, officials and local media reported.
The activists from the group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) were protesting against flying, the most polluting form of transportation, the German news agency dpa reported.
Incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, an airport spokesperson said. After a couple of hours, the airport’s two runways were reopened, though a statement on the airport’s official website said there might be further disruptions to flight schedules.
Letzte Generation posted on X, accusing the German government of “downplaying” the negative effects of flying on the environment instead of “finally acting sincerely”.
The German interior minister, Nancy Faeser, criticised the protests and called for them to stop. “Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger,” she wrote on X.
Fraser also applauded police efforts to bring order back to the airport and called for airport safety measures to be checked.
The general manager of the German Airports Association, Ralph Beisel, sharply criticised the activists’ actions.
“Trespassing the aviation security area is no trivial offence. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday,” he told dpa.
Beisel also called for harsher penalties for activists who break into airports.
Climate activists blocked flights at Hamburg and Düsseldorf airports for several hours in July.
In January, Letzte Generation – whose members are known for gluing themselves to streets to block traffic, infuriating many Germans – said it would abandon the tactic and instead hold what it called “disobedient assemblies”. The group’s actions have been widely criticised, and the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, described them as “completely nutty”.
