Climate activists storm BER - air traffic at Berlin Airport temporarily stopped

Created: 11/25/2022, 4:55 am

By: Fabian Mueller

Activists from the group "Last Generation" stormed Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, air traffic had to be stopped for safety reasons, emergency services are on site.

Air traffic was suspended at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) on Thursday afternoon, presumably due to an action by climate activists.

"Because of the unauthorized access of several people, both runways at BER are currently closed," explained the operator.

A spokesman for the Berlin Federal Police spoke of an "incident" involving several people who were in the non-public area of ​​the airport.

Emergency services are on site.

No further details were given.

The climate protest group "Last Generation" said in a statement that several supporters had blocked the airport runway.

Some of them would have stuck to the asphalt, while others lead the maneuvering area with bicycles and brought air traffic to a standstill.

Shortly before entering the airport premises, the group said they informed the police about their plans via an emergency call.

The activists want to protest against the climate damage of flights.

Climate activists temporarily paralyze BER - airport resumes flight operations in the evening

At around 6:25 p.m., BER then gave the all-clear, flight operations resumed, but there were further shifts in ongoing operations.

BER wrote on Twitter: “Flight operations have resumed on both runways.

But there are still delays.

We ask for patience."

Police take several climate activists into custody

In the evening, the police announced that several people had been taken into custody.

The climate activists will be charged with dangerous interference in air traffic, trespassing and property damage.

The police did not say how many people were involved in the action.

The activists recorded their action in a live stream on their Twitter channel.

The approximately 35-minute video allegedly shows a group of people cutting through a chain link fence and entering the airport premises.

Later, bicycles can be seen riding across an airstrip and two members of the group holding up a banner that reads, "What if the government can't handle this?" At around 4pm, the activists started their protest.

Climate activists paralyze BER - air traffic at Berlin Airport temporarily stopped

Towards the end of the live stream, the police finally intervened and asked the activists to leave the runway.

If necessary, they would also “use coercion”, according to one of the police officers.

BER then announced on its website in the afternoon that both runways were closed due to "unauthorized access by several people".

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In the meantime, the Flightradar24 website showed how some aircraft were circling in the area around BER because they could not land. International flights from Istanbul or Newcastle were also affected.

Other flights were diverted and should land in Leipzig, Dresden or Hamburg.

(AFP/fmu)