Climate activists glue themselves to the tarmac at the German airport

German activists glued themselves to the runway at Munich airport on Saturday and caused the cancellation of dozens of flights, in their latest action aimed at putting pressure on authorities to combat climate change.

Activists from the environmental protest group Last Generation forced their way into Germany’s second busiest airport by cutting through a fence in the early hours of the morning, an airport spokesman said.

Flights were suspended, leading to the cancellation of 61 takeoffs and landings, he said.

The action ended with the arrest of eight climate activists, police told the local public broadcaster.

Both runways at the airport have been open again since 7:20 am (05:20 GMT), but disruptions are expected to continue throughout the day. It happened at the start of a long weekend in Germany, which is a busy travel day.

The Last Generation is known for organizing flashy protests – from sticking to busy roads to throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting – that have sharply divided public opinion and provoked increasingly harsh responses from authorities.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing condemned the action, saying it was “not a legitimate protest, but a targeted intervention in air traffic”.

“If air traffic is not safe, people will be put at risk, major economic damage will be threatened and thousands of travelers will be stranded.”

But in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Last Generation accused the government of not doing enough to discourage people from flying, a major source of climate-damaging emissions.

“It is absurd that people are more likely to be able to afford flights than train travel,” the group said. “The responsibility for this lies with the government: it subsidizes flights while the railways are being cut to the bone.”

In December 2022, activists from the group also glued themselves to a runway at Munich airport, but only caused minor delays.

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