All four runways are now open again and operations are ramping up again, said a spokesman for operator Fraport on Thursday morning. A total of around 1,400 flights were planned via Frankfurt. “So far there have been around 140 flight cancellations,” said Germany’s largest airport.
Delays in operations are also expected for the rest of the day. “Passengers are asked to check their flight status on the airlines’ websites before arriving at the airport.”
“Oil kills”
Six activists gained access to the airport grounds through a chain-link fence and blocked the runways at various points early in the morning, the group “Last Generation” announced. It published a photo of an activist who had apparently glued himself to the fence and was holding a banner reading “Oil kills.”
The federal police arrested a total of eight people. Not all activists have been released from the runway yet, a spokesman said. The operation is ongoing. Two of the activists have already been released and handed over to the Hessian state police for further investigation, according to the federal police.
In a statement, the group “Last Generation” repeated its demand from the previous day to the German government to “help shape and sign a legally binding international agreement that regulates the global phase-out of oil, gas and coal by 2030.” The six demonstrators used small pliers to cut holes in the chain-link fence at Frankfurt Airport and reached various places around the runways on foot, by bicycle and on skateboards, the statement said. The action was part of international protests in Germany, the USA, Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Spain and Norway.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing called for tough measures. “Climate activists are obviously trying to cause maximum damage. The legislature must react to this with maximum severity,” the FDP politician told Bild. “We have already initiated tougher penalties for such criminal activities.”
“Dangerous, stupid and criminal”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser condemned the blockade actions as “dangerous, stupid and criminal.” “Those who block runways not only risk their own lives, but also endanger others and harm all travelers,” Faeser wrote on the online service X. “These acts must be punished more severely. We have proposed severe prison sentences.”
On Wednesday, activists around the world had already drawn attention to climate change with protests at airports. Vienna Airport in Schwechat was also affected, where four people held a rally in the check-in area and spilled paint. In a statement, the group “Last Generation” repeated its demand from the previous day to “help shape and sign a legally binding international agreement that regulates the global phase-out of oil, gas and coal by 2030”.
