Climate activists step up direct action at European airports

European flights are being severely disrupted by climate activists glueing themselves to runways as part of their campaign to ban fossil fuels, despite threats of tougher prison sentences for protesters breaking into airports. Frankfurt airport cancelled about 140 flights on Thursday after members of the Letzte (Last) Generation climate protest group cut through perimeter fencing and stuck themselves to the ground while holding “Oil Kills” banners. The disruption to Germany’s busiest airport, which lasted about two hours before police arrested the activists and flights resumed, is part of a pan-European protest movement to disrupt airports across the region. About 30 flights were cancelled at Cologne-Bonn airport on Wednesday after activists brought its runways to a standstill for three hours. German interior minister Nancy Faeser called the protests at Frankfurt airport “dangerous, dumb and criminal”. “Anyone who blocks runways not only risks their own life, but also endangers others and harms all travellers,” Faeser wrote on X. “These acts must be punished more severely. We have proposed severe prison sentences.” Fraport, which operates Frankfurt airport, said flight delays were expected for the rest of the day and recommended passengers check airline websites before travelling to the airport. Protesters have also targeted airports in the UK, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Finland in recent days. Police arrested several activists from the Just Stop Oil protest group close to the perimeter fence of London’s Heathrow airport on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiring to interfere with a site of critical national infrastructure under the Public Order Act.<br/>