Germany: Climate activists cause flight delays, cancelations

“Last Generation” climate activists on Thursday blockaded airports in the German cities of Hamburg and Düsseldorf, causing major disruption to flights.

Activists said they had cut through fences at both airports and that several people had glued themselves to the ground in the runway areas.

The protesters said their actions aim to highlight the rising numbers of plane passengers, which are causing increasing climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation sector.

“Instead of presenting a concrete plan to prevent this and to reach the emissions-reduction target called for by law, the Transport Ministry is relying on ‘technological flexibility,'” the group stated.

Delays and cancellations

In Hamburg, 46 flights were delayed, cancelled or diverted before operations resumed at 9:50 local time (0750 UTC/GMT) with airport authorities saying that more cancellations and delays were possible.

The protest in Hamburg comes as the summer holidays begin in the city-state.

The Düsseldorf airport said on Twitter that there were delays in operations “because unauthorized people had gained access to the airport premises” and urged passengers to check the status of their flights.