Climate activists infiltrated Frankfurt Airport (FRA), leading to a temporary suspension of all flight operations. The incident, which began early on July 25, 2024, prompted an immediate response from federal and state police, airport security, and the airport fire department.
The activists’ unauthorized access resulted in the complete shutdown of flight operations at one of Europe’s busiest airports. For safety reasons, all runways were closed, affecting thousands of passengers and causing considerable delays.
The airport authorities swiftly acted to restore normalcy, and by 07:50 local time, all runways were back in operation. Despite the prompt response, the disruption had a cascading effect on the day’s flight schedule. Approximately 1,400 flights were planned for the day, but the unforeseen incident led to about 140 cancellations.
“Delays are to be expected for the rest of the day of operation,” the airport said. “Passengers are asked to check their flight status on the airlines’ websites before arriving at the airport.”
On June 20, 2024, two climate activists were arrested after breaking into London-Stansted Airport (STN) and spraying two jets with orange paint.