Climate activists briefly disrupt Munich Airport operations

Munich Airport was closed for some hours early Saturday after climate activists accessed the runway as part of a campaign calling for more government action against greenhouse emissions.

The group - Letzte Generation, or Last Generation - said in a statement that they’d blocked the tarmac before the regular start of flights for the day. 

Flight operations resumed by 8 a.m. but “temporary restrictions” continued due to ongoing federal police operations, Munich Airport said in a series of responses to customers on X. 

Disruptions at Germany’s second busiest airport come as European carriers gear up for the busy summer travel season. 

“Government is the problem, not our vacation,” read a slogan on an picture attached to the statement. The group called on German authorities to pursue a “fair” shutdown of the flight industry rather than leave it to consumers to decide which means of transport to use for their trips.

The group frequently engages in sit-ins on roads and highways to call for more stringent action to lower greenhouse gas emissions. In the past years it’s disrupted takeoffs and landings at Munich and Berlin’s main airports after several activists glued themselves to runways.

German authorities in 2023 searched properties in connection with an investigation against the group, accusing several members of forming or supporting a criminal organization and raising at least €1.4 million.