Cargo flights were halted for about three hours at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle airport on Thursday morning due to a protest by climate activists from Last Generation.
Five protesters clung to the ground in the southern part of the airport and two others were restrained, a police spokesman said.
The activists were eventually removed from the platform at around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), he said, adding that officers had discovered gaps in the fence at the edge of the site.
As a result of the action, cargo flights were halted approximately three hours after midnight, an airport spokesman said.
One of the two runways was cleared for use in the morning and passenger flights began with a slight delay, with the first flight departing about 15 minutes later than scheduled, according to the airport’s website.
Leipzig/Halle Airport is the fourth largest air cargo hub in Europe, handling around 1.4 million tonnes of freight annually, according to the website.
According to Last Generation, the protest was intended to send a signal against increasing air traffic, planned expansion of airport capacity and the lack of a government plan to quickly phase out fossil fuels.
The climate group indicated in a message on the social media platform X that the blockade would mainly affect freight traffic.
Accompanying photos showed activists on the runway holding signs reading “Oil Kills,” and at least one person with his hands glued to the apron.
The activists are now being investigated for unauthorized presence in the security area, trespassing and disrupting air traffic, among other things, police spokesman Jens Damrau said. They had made a hole in the airport fence and gained access to the site, he said.
The group was arrested. It consisted of three men aged 21, 23 and 25 and four women aged 21, 23, 25 and 27.
The airport association ADV strongly criticized the action. Last Generation uses the summer vacation to get maximum media attention, according to ADV.
The group has so far rejected every proposal for dialogue, the association said.
According to DHL, 19 cargo flights had to be diverted due to the blockade. Such “irresponsible actions” not only hindered economically relevant activities, but also endangered the lives of the crews, the company said.
According to DHL, authorities must do everything they can to prevent such acts.
Climate protesters disrupted air traffic at Frankfurt and Cologne-Bonn airports last week. As a result, Leipzig/Halle Airport, among others, announced that it would take security measures.
