Airports Cancel 171 Flights as Climate Activists Block Runway

A new wave of climate protests has erupted in Europe these days, forcing the busiest airports to disrupt hundreds of fights after the activists glued themselves to the taxiway. While thousands of passengers are seeking compensation for cancelled flight and local authorities keep calling for better airport security, environmental activists have told the media that the protests are to take place in Europe and beyond over the next few weeks.

Protesters’ Demands

The Last Generation climate group, which orchestrated the protests, wants their governments to pursue a binding global treaty to stop the extraction and burning of gas, oil, and coal by 2030. According to Our World in Data, air transportation is responsible for nearly 2.5% of carbon emissions in the world and has contributed approximately 4% to global warming.

Most Affected Airports

To highlight the threats posed by burning fossil fuels, environmental activists coordinated their efforts to disrupt air traffic in different European airports:

  • Frankfurt Airport. As the busiest air hub, Frankfurt suffered the greatest number of flight disruptions on July 25 when six climate group members cut through the fence and glued their hands to different points across the runways with a mixture of glue and sand. The activists were seen there for a few hours holding posters “Oil kills”, but shortly before 8 a.m., all runways resumed operations. As a result, 140 out of 1,400 planned flights were cancelled, while even a greater number of arrivals and departures were delayed. This caused major inconveniences for passengers, and many of them tried to make up for it by claiming Frankfurt am Main Airport flight delay compensation.
  • Cologne-Bonn Airport. Five Last Generation activists disrupted traffic at Germany’s sixth-largest airport on July 24. They stayed glued to the runway for several hours, so all morning flights were suspended up to 9 a.m. The protest resulted in 6 diverted and 31 cancelled flights (16 landings and 15 take-offs), not to mention hundreds of delayed departures and arrivals.

Heathrow, the UK’s biggest airport, had to be involved in the protests as well, but on Wednesday, British police prevented the action by arresting ten activists from the Just Stop Oil group. Even though no flight disruptions took place, they happen due to a variety of other reasons at one time or another, so make sure you know everything about compensation for Heathrow Airport flight delays and cancellations and can protect your rights when there’s such a need.

Similar peaceful protests took place in other European airports, including Helsinki Vantaa, Barcelona El Prat, Vienna, Oslo, and Zurich airport. However, the police quickly dispersed the demonstrations, so they had almost no effect on the air traffic.

Legislation against Breaking Airport Perimeters

Protesters so far have to pay a fine for breaking airport perimeter, but legislation may get tougher soon. The German Cabinet is considering a bill that foresees a prison sentence of up to two or five years (if a person intrudes into the airport with prohibited objects such as knives, weapons, or poisonous substances, or intends to commit another crime).

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