Members of German climate activist group Last Generation breached the tarmac at Munich Airport and glued themselves to a taxiway, disrupting travel for more than 100,000 passengers by forcing the airport to temporarily close during a busy holiday weekend.
The airport in southern Germany, the country’s second largest, was completely closed at 5:19 a.m. (0319 GMT) and remained so for almost two hours, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) said.
The airport association said more than 100,000 passengers were affected. Several aircraft had to be diverted to other airports. A plane with an emergency patient on board was therefore only able to land 20 minutes late, authorities said.
Officials said 60 flights were canceled at the airport on Saturday following the protest that closed the airport for almost two hours.
The terminals in Munich were very full because it was a holiday weekend, airport spokesman Robert Wilhelm told dpa.
The new protest action caused a wave of criticism from politicians.
“This was yet another absolutely mindless action by climate chaotic people. Disrupting air traffic with such blockages – and at the start of the travel season – is not only reckless, but also potentially endangers the lives of many people,” says Hermann. the conservative Bavarian CSU party.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a letter about X: “Such criminal actions endanger air traffic and damage climate protection because they only provoke misunderstanding and anger.” She called for “prosecution of the perpetrators and review of protective measures at the airport.”
Transport Minister Volker Wissing said: “This is not a legitimate protest, but a targeted intervention in air traffic.” He said people are at risk if air traffic is not safe and there is also economic damage. He called for tightening of the Aviation Security Act.
Airport Association (ADV) director Ralph Beisel called for tougher criminal sanctions.
The airport was initially closed for security reasons, airport officials and federal police said.
After about two hours, one of the two runways was reopened, followed about an hour later by the second runway.
About 1,000 takeoffs and landings were planned in Munich on Saturday, according to an airport spokesman. Due to the tight timing of flights, delays will continue even when runways reopen. Passengers flying from the airport on Saturday should contact the airline he recommended.
The Last Generation reported on X that six people sat in groups of two at different locations at Munich Airport.
Numerous police officers and firefighters were on the scene to remove the activists. According to Herrman, the six activists, as well as two others who did not reach the tarmac, were arrested. They are being investigated and risk prison sentences.
The climate activists cut the security fence in four places at the same time and eight tried to enter the site at the same time from the four different points, according to a spokesperson for the federal police.
Munich Airport had expected a large number of holidaymakers, with a total of around 350,000 passengers expected from Friday to Sunday. The airport would handle 2,860 flights during this period.
In total, during the Pentecost holidays, the second major travel wave of the year after Easter, 7% more flights were registered than in the previous year, the airport reported before the start of the holidays.
Many countries, including Germany, have a public holiday on the day after Pentecost, or Pentecost, which is 50 days after Easter.
Last Generation said it specifically wanted to disrupt the start of the holiday weekend.
The group wants politicians to take more decisive action in the face of climate change. At the end of January, the country announced it would abandon roadblocks and focus on “places of fossil destruction” – airports were explicitly mentioned. It has carried out similar actions at German airports in the past.
Air traffic is responsible for almost 10% of Germany’s responsibility for global warming. The aviation sector is being subsidized by the state by waiving paraffin tax and VAT, the activists criticized.
