 "Police, security and medical staff parked their vehicles after activists of the \"Letzte Generation\" (Last Generation) staged a demonstration near the runways at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany July 25, 2024. Photo- Reuters")
Germany’s busiest airport Frankfurt Airport has resumed operations after suspending flights on Thursday morning after climate activists staged a demonstration near the runways.
Planes were able to take off and land again, the airport said on its website, but passengers were still advised to check on their flight status before setting off for the airport.
Initially, the airport advised passengers on social media not to come to the airport and to check their flight status, but this message was later deleted, with updates indicating that flight operations were gradually resuming.
The airport earlier posted on X that “Passengers are asked not to go to the airport for the time being”, advising travellers to check their flight status and allow for extra travel time. The tweet was later deleted and a later update said “flight operations are gradually resuming”.
A police spokesperson told Agence France-Presse: “We are doing everything to remove the climate activists from the tarmac.”
Last Generation climate activists claimed that six protesters had cut through a fence and positioned themselves at various points around the runways with posters reading “Oil kills.” Images from the group showed protesters in orange safety vests with their hands glued to the tarmac. A federal police spokesperson confirmed several activists were on the airport grounds.
The group has been urging the German government to commit to a global agreement to exit oil, gas, and coal by 2030 and has planned similar disruptions across Europe and North America as part of a protest campaign that began on Wednesday.
In Norway, about a dozen activists blocked part of the check-in area at Oslo Airport, marking the second day of actions, but flights were not disrupted. Meanwhile, Germany’s Cologne-Bonn airport, the country’s sixth-largest, suspended flights for several hours on Wednesday after climate activists glued themselves to a runway. Similar actions at other European airports were thwarted by authorities.
Germany’s Cologne-Bonn airport, the country’s sixth-largest suspended flights for several hours on Wednesday after climate activists glued themselves to a runway, while similar actions at other European airports had been foiled by authorities.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, whose ministry wants to punish unauthorized airfield access with up to two years in jail, called the action “dangerous, dumb and criminal.”
With inputs from agencies.