Flights at Cologne-Bonn Airport suspended because climate activists block runway

Climate activists glued themselves to the ground at Cologne-Bonn Airport on Wednesday, forcing a suspension of air traffic, authorities said.

According to police, five people were stuck on an airport runway early in the morning, reported the German news agency dpa.

Flight operations were suspended at around 5:45 a.m. The demonstrators were removed and flight operations resumed shortly after 9 a.m.

The activist group Last Generation said in a statement that supporters in several small groups cut through the outer fence, approached the airport and then stuck themselves to the asphalt with a mixture of sand and glue.

The group is calling on the German government to negotiate and sign an international agreement to phase out the use of oil, gas and coal worldwide by 2030.

It was the latest of several airport protests by climate activists in recent years that led to flight disruptions.

Last week, the German cabinet approved a law that would impose tougher penalties for breaching airport grounds.

The draft law, which is still pending in Parliament, provides for a penalty of up to two years in prison for persons who intentionally enter the airspace of airports, such as taxiways or runways, endanger civil aviation or enable others to do so.

So far, such interventions can only be punished with a fine.

A prison sentence of up to five years would be possible, for example, if someone forcibly enters an airport with prohibited items such as a weapon, certain knives or poisonous substances, or if the intrusion is intended to facilitate or cover up another crime.