Climate activists disrupt air traffic at German airport; UK police arrest nine

This content was published on July 24, 2024 - 13:14

2 minutes

By Ludwig Burger and Klaus Lauer

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany’s Cologne-Bonn airport temporarily stopped all flights on Wednesday after climate activist group Last Generation glued their hands to a runway and said that was “just the beginning,” with similar action planned globally within weeks.

Also on Wednesday, British police said in a post on X they had arrested nine activists from climate campaign group Just Stop Oil for conspiring to disrupt Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest.

It was not clear if the two actions were coordinated, though the German group said British airports would be among several targeted by climate activists on Wednesday.

Cologne-Bonn airport, Germany’s sixth-largest, near the former West German capital, said it resumed operations during the morning after halting all flights shortly before 0400 GMT.

Last Generation earlier said on X that it had blocked air traffic at the airport, and published pictures of several activists with their hands glued to the runway.

Activist Ronja Kuenkler of Last Generation, which wants the German government to pursue a global agreement to exit oil, gas and coal by 2030, said at a media briefing: “That was just the beginning today. Over the next few weeks we will repeat this in Germany, Europe and globally.”

She declined to comment when asked whether the Paris Olympics, due to start on Friday, could be targeted.

The group earlier predicted protests at airports across Europe and North America for Wednesday, but no major disruptions have been reported, and some attempts were foiled.

In Norway, three activists were apprehended early on Wednesday after cutting a hole in a fence and briefly making it onto a runway at Oslo Airport, local police said.

A video posted by Just Stop Oil on X showed British police officers arresting a number of people on a perimeter road just outside a fenced off runway, where planes can be seen taxiing.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Klaus Lauer; Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo, Sachin Ravikumar in London and Dave Graham in Zurich; Editing by Miranda Murray, Alex Richardson and Bernadette Baum)