Munich
Climate protection activists have early Saturday morning Munich Airport paralysed. The activists had entered the courtyard of the airport grounds. “The airport is closed for safety reasons because climate activists have secured themselves on the runways,” an airport spokesperson said.
As the airport spokesperson explained, initially only scheduled landings in Munich from 5 a.m. were affected, as takeoffs were only allowed to take place from 6 a.m. The incoming planes were diverted to other airports.
The airport was expecting many holidaymakers during the first holiday weekend, with a total of about 350,000 passengers expected from Friday to Sunday. Munich Airport wanted to handle 2,860 flights during this period. In total, seven percent more flights were registered during the Pentecost holiday, the second major travel wave of the year after Easter, than in the previous year, the airport announced before the start of the holiday.
An employee of the German news agency was able to observe at least two people on the runways. The so-called Last Generation announced on Network There were many police forces on site.
The last generation wants to disrupt the start of the holiday at the airport
According to their own statements, members of the Last Generation planned to enter the airport grounds to block at least one of the two runways. They wanted to disrupt the start of traveling at the start of the Pentecost holidays.
The background to the protest is that air traffic accounts for almost ten percent of Germany’s responsibility for global warming. The aviation sector is being subsidized by the state by waiving kerosene and VAT, the activists criticized. They call for more decisive political action in the face of climate change.
In the past, the group carried out similar actions at several German airports, such as Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. In Munich there was already a blockade at the airport in December 2022. According to authorities, a plane with an emergency patient on board was only able to land at the Bavarian capital’s airport with a 20-minute delay.
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