German Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Tarmac, Halting Flights

Protestors manage to temporarily suspend flights at Cologne Bonn Airport and Nuremberg Airport before police intervene.

Jack Daleo

Friday, August 16, 2024 at 02:54 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Activists temporarily suspended flights at Nuremberg Airport and Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany. [Courtesy: Nuremberg Airport]

Key Takeaways:

Climate activists from the "Last Generation" group disrupted operations at two German airports by breaching security and gluing themselves to the tarmac, temporarily halting flights and advocating for a 2030 international ban on fossil fuels.
German authorities and airport associations strongly condemned the protests, with the Interior Minister proposing a bill for significantly stricter penalties, including 2-5 year prison sentences for airport security breaches.
This incident is part of Last Generation's pattern of disruptive actions, increasingly targeting the aviation industry to highlight its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, despite the sector's own 2050 net-zero commitments and challenges.

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A group of climate activists temporarily halted flights at two German airports on Thursday by gluing themselves to the asphalt.

Eight members of the Last Generation—an organization aiming to persuade the German government to sign on to an international ban on the use of oil, gas, and coal by 2030—used bolt cutters to breach fences at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (EDDB), Cologne Bonn Airport (EDDK), Nuremberg Airport (EDDN), and Stuttgart Airport (EDDS).