Climate activists breach security at four German airports

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BERLIN (Reuters) -Two German airports temporarily suspended flights on Thursday morning after climate activists breached their airfields as part of a larger protest action targeting four airports nationwide.

The Last Generation campaign group said in a statement that eight activists had stopped or reduced traffic at the Berlin, Cologne-Bonn, Nuremberg and Stuttgart airports and published pictures of activists with their hands glued to the tarmac.

The activists did not enter the runway area, it added.

German politicians have demanded better protection for the country’s airports after climate activists were able to breach fences and disrupt air traffic, including at the country’s busiest airport, Frankfurt, for two days in a row last month.

The Nuremberg airport suspended flights for a little over an hour due to the activists, leading to six delayed flights, one cancellation and one rerouted flight, it said on Facebook.

Traffic at the Cologne-Bonn airport was running since 0525 GMT after being halted early Thursday, with some delays still expected, according to the airport on social media platform X.

Police were on site at the Berlin-Brandenburg airport, the largest one affected, and were able to remove the two protesters who had entered the airfield by cutting through a fence, said a police spokesperson, adding flight operations were unaffected.

Air traffic at the Stuttgart airport was also unaffected after two people who blocked a taxiway were immediately apprehended by police, the airport said in a statement.

Last Generation has listed several countries across Europe and North America where similar disruptions are planned as part of a protest campaign calling for the German government to pursue a global agreement to exit oil, gas and coal by 2030.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on X that the protesters’ “criminal actions are dangerous and stupid.”

The ministry has proposed severe prison sentences in response to such actions and is obliging airports to significantly improve their facilities’ security, she added.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray and Anneli Palmen, Editing by Thomas Seythal and Michael Perry)