Several climate protestors managed to breach security at Munich International Airport early on Saturday morning before glueing themselves to one of the two runways at the busy German airfield.
The security incident and ensuing protest brought the airport to a standstill, resulting in the cancellation of at least 60 flights and delaying many more. The protest was timed to coincide with the start of a busy holiday weekend in Germany.
German police say they have arrested eight climate activists who are believed to belong to the Last Generation protest movement, which has carried a number of similar stunts at other German airports in the last few years.
Six of the protestors glued themselves to the runway, while two others documented the protest, posting photos of the activists stuck to the runway on social media channels.
The protest began at around 4:45 am, just before flight operations at the airport were due to start.
In a series of posts on its official X account, Last Generation railed at the low cost of air travel, leading to people choosing to fly rather than taking other forms of mass public transportation like trains.
In response to the protest, Nancy Faeser, Germany’s Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, said: “Such criminal actions endanger air traffic and harm climate protection because they only provoke incomprehension and anger.”
“It is good that the federal police took action quickly,” Faeser’s statement continued. “The perpetrators must be consistently pursued, and the protective measures at the airport must be reviewed.”
Along with the flight cancellations and delays, a spokesperson for Munich Airport said 11 inbound flights also had to be diverted to other airports.
Matt’s take
There will surely be questions asked of security measures in place at Munich Airport and the airport’s operator will be under pressure to prevent any kind of similar protest in the future.
While there’s also increasing pressure on the aviation industry to quickly clean up its act and reduce greenhouse emissions, German politicians and the country’s airlines are fed up with these direct action protests and are willing to use every legal remedy to punish protestors.
Last year, it was revealed that German flag carrier Lufthansa had sent a €120,000 bill to six climate activists who managed to break onto the airfield of Berlin Brandenburg Airport in November 2022.
The protestors, also from Last Generation, also glued themselves to the runway leading to 10 flight cancellations, one diversion and 21 delayed flights across the Lufthansa Group’s airlines.
Just let the airplanes land and take off as normal. Saves on legal fees, though clean up would be a bit yucky I suppose