Two airports in Germany were forced to temporarily suspend operations after climate protestors glued themselves to the taxiways on July 13, 2023.
According to a statement from Dusseldorf Airport (DUS) published on Twitter, at approximately 5:50 am local time (UTC +2) “several people broke into the airport airside and taped themselves onto the tarmac near the southern runway”. The airport’s management said that the northern runway was reopened at 7:30 am local time (UTC +2), with flight operations resuming on a limited basis.
Meanwhile, Hamburg Airport (HAM) released a statement on Twitter saying that as of 8:30 am local time (UTC +2), flight operations remain suspended. “Passengers and collectors [of arriving passengers – ed. note] please find out about their flight status and contact their airline if necessary,” the statement continued.
“Due to a police operation, flight operations at Hamburg Airport have been suspended since 6.10 a.m. No flights could take off and land on Thursday. The central security control as well as the check-in counters are temporarily closed,” HAM added.
Several climate protestors from the Last Generation (Letzte Generation) glued themselves to tarmac on the taxiways at DUS and HAM. The group is protesting “against the government’s lack of planning and breaking the law in the climate crisis,” according to its own statement on Twitter.
Last Generation claimed that the German government is breaking climate protection laws by having “no strategy on how to meet the 2030 climate targets”, and the Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport of Germany has not created “immediate climate protection program on how to reduce emissions in the transport sector”.
Eurowings, part of the Lufthansa group of airlines, released a statement on July 13, 2023, which stated: “Due to police operations at the start of operations at Dusseldorf and Hamburg airports, there will be disruptions to flight operations today.”
“All airlines are affected, including Eurowings,” the German airline continued.
The same protestor group spray painted a private jet orange at Germany’s Sylt Airport (GWT) in early June 2023.