A group of climate activists from the group Last generation has managed to temporarily paralyze flights at the Munich international airport (Germany) after jumping the fence and sticking to the approach routes to the take-off runways.
Specifically, the activists have prevented the passage of planes on two taxiways, according to an airport spokesperson informed the German media. Airport security managed to clear one of the streets shortly after and flights resumed, although with a delay. Finally, the activists were completely evicted and all those involved – eight in total – are now in police custody.
The incident began at dawn, around five in the morning, when eight members of the group tried to enter the Munich airport grounds. Six succeeded and two were arrested immediately after cutting the fence, according to a federal police spokesman. to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
According to spokespersons for the airport and the federal police, the airport was initially completely closed for security reasons. After about two hours, one of the two runways could be opened, followed by the second about an hour later and operations had gradually resumed. However, 61 takeoffs and landings were canceled and many other departures were delayed. Likewise, some arriving planes were diverted to other airports. Lufthansa is offering passengers on its German domestic flights the option to change their reservations to travel by train. And passengers are advised to contact their airline.
The action took place before regular traffic began at Munich airport where night flights are prohibited between midnight and 5:00, and operations are restricted between 5:00 and 6:00. Air traffic usually resumes normally from six in the morning.
According to the information provided so far and the statement from the group Última Generación, which has claimed responsibility for the action, the six people who managed to access the slopes sat at different points in groups of two. Two people managed to stick to the runway between the terminal and the northern runway, while two other groups settled on the access roads to the southern runway.
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💬 Malte: “Manches muss runtergefahren werden. Manches können wir uns nicht mehr leisten. Das ist der Elefant im Raum, den wir hier ansprechen”
🚨 Wir brauchen dringend diese Ehrlichkeit in der Debatte!
1/2 pic.twitter.com/evCSJvy44a
— Letzte Generation (@AufstandLastGen) May 18, 2024
Police and security forces were on the scene within minutes, but were unable to prevent them from hitting the ground. According to the statement issued by the activists, the protesters “took their seats on the runway before the regular start of air traffic and thus prevented the passage of planes” and raised a banner with the slogan: “The problem is the government, not our vacations.” ”. And another in which it could be read: “Shame of flight.” “Most of the time we can more easily afford flights rather than train travel. That’s why, when we book a flight, we feel ashamed,” the organization says in the statement.
Activists accuse the Government of being responsible for making it cheaper to fly than to go by train, as “every year it gives billions of taxpayers’ money to airlines, while at the same time railways and other forms of travel are cut. of public transportation.”
According to Última Generación’s press release, the protest action in Munich is “part of a series of actions in places of injustice.” And he adds: “These actions take place directly where global warming is being fueled.”
The action took place at a time when Germany celebrates the Pentecost holidays, during which some 350,000 people will use the facilities at Munich airport throughout this weekend.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has published on the social network that “such criminal actions endanger air traffic and harm climate protection, because they only provoke misunderstanding and anger.” And he demanded that the perpetrators be “consistently pursued and the airport’s protection measures reviewed.”
Meanwhile, the German Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, recalled that “airports have security zones for good reasons: If air traffic is not safe, people are put in danger, significant economic damage is threatened and thousands of travelers are threatened. “They are stranded.” Wissing stressed that he urgently needs to toughen the Aviation Safety Law so that in the future these interventions can be punished as criminal offenses with up to two years in prison. “Until now, they are only administrative infractions in legal terms,” he indicated about a law that the Ministry of the Interior is already working on. “The incident highlights that this tightening must now happen very quickly.”
The same way he sees it Secretary General of the Christian Social Union (CSU), Martin Huber, which also demanded “the full weight of the law against these climate extremists.” “Last Generation’s actions endanger their lives, their own lives, and the lives of others,” he wrote in X. “These actions are simply stupid.”
The group had previously announced its intention to suspend flights, as it did in 2022, in protest at the impact of air traffic, which represents almost ten percent of Germany’s responsibility for global warming. Back then, four activists managed to stick to a taxiway and ensure that the northern runway was closed for a short period of time. However, in the end they were only able to interrupt flight operations for three quarters of an hour in the morning. Three other activists were detained in the southern part of the airport complex before they could scale the fence.
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