Berlin Brandenburg airport was briefly shut down on Thursday after a group of climate demonstrators broke in and glued themselves to the runway in protest over greenhouse gas emissions.
The airport was forced to close its runways for takeoff and landing for nearly two hours after protesters from the Letzte Generation (Last Generation) environmental group broke onto the site and stuck themselves to the tarmac while others rode bicycles across the shunting area.
Protesters denounced the aviation industry and urged the public to stop traveling by air, while also calling on the government to stop subsidizing air travel.
Authorities said they deployed security personnel to detain the protesters who had gained access from both the northern and the southern sides of the airport.
“In an airport area that is not open to the public, we encountered several people who had previously gained unauthorized access and some glued themselves [to the tarmac],” Berlin police said on Twitter.
Chancellor Criticizes Protesters
Letzte Generation, which describes itself as the “last generation that can still stop the collapse of our society” said its protesters had informed police of their plans to enter the airport and stage a demonstration before doing so.They also urged the government to expand cheap train travel offers.
It is unclear how many flights were delayed because of the protests, however the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg broadcaster reported that around 13 flights had been diverted to airports in the eastern state of Saxony by 6 p.m. local time.
This is not the first time that Letzte Generation has staged public protests, with the group having conducted dozens this year alone.
Earlier in November, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized the group after some of its protesters glued themselves to a busy road in Berlin, bringing traffic to a standstill and preventing an emergency services vehicle from reaching a critically injured female cyclist. The woman later died.
