August 15 (THEWILL) – Two German airports, Nuremberg and Cologne-Bonn, temporarily suspended flight operations on Thursday after climate activists invaded the airfields as part of a larger protest against four airports across the country.
The campaign group Last Generation said in a statement that activists had stopped or restricted traffic at Berlin, Cologne-Bonn, Nuremberg and Stuttgart airports and published images of activists with their hands taped to the tarmac.
Nuremberg Airport announced on its website that flights were suspended until further notice at 03:42 GMT and warned that passengers should expect delays. Cologne-Bonn Airport, in turn, announced on the social media platform X that flights were currently suspended because the police were dealing with “unauthorized persons”.
The police were on site at Berlin Airport and were able to remove the two demonstrators who had cut through a fence and entered the airfield. Flight operations were not affected, said a police spokesman.
The group has listed several countries in Europe and North America and said it plans to stage similar disruptions there as part of a protest campaign that aims to call on the German government to work towards a global agreement to phase out the oil, gas and coal industries by 2030.
German politicians have called for better protection of Germany’s airports after climate activists managed to break through fences and disrupt air traffic, including at the country’s busiest airport, Frankfurt, for two days in a row last month.
