Status: 22.12.2023, 22:22 p.m.
By: Jakob Koch
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Climate protest at Berlin Brandenburg Airport a year ago: Lufthansa now wants compensation © from the last generation Paul Zinken/dpa
With their illegal actions, the "Last Generation" has caused quite a stir in air traffic. Lufthansa now wants to see money from the climate stickers.
Update from December 22, 2023: The raids against the climate stickers of the "Last Generation" were supposed to reveal money flows – but now everything is different: hundreds of thousands of euros are going back to their owners.
Update as of December 19, 2023: Now the climate stickers have submitted a poisoned offer to Lufthansa after their claim for damages.
First reported on December 17, 2023: Munich – Flight cancellations, delays, diverted flights: The list of costly consequences of the climate protests at German airports is long. Lufthansa has now added up the damage and neatly listed it – the bill is available to the "Last Generation". Representing all Lufthansa subsidiaries is Eurowings on the invoice header. The sum: an impressive 740,000 euros. Given the income of the "Last Generation", the climate activists are in danger of being financially ruined afterwards.
Lufthansa presents the bill to climate stickers – these protests are what it's all about
Specifically, Lufthansa's claim for damages is about three actions of the "Last Generation" from the last 13 months:
- Hamburg Airport, 13 July 2023
- Düsseldorf Airport, also on 13 July 2023
- BER Airport (Berlin-Brandenburg) on 24 November 2022
On the three days affected, 55 flights are said to have been cancelled at the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings alone. In addition, there are flights operated by the Group companies Austrian, Swiss and Lufthansa itself. In all three actions, members of the "Last Generation" were arrested by the police. Some of the accused have already been served with demands for payment, writes Bild am Sonntag. A statement from the "Last Generation" is not yet available.
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Transport Minister Wissing on the actions of climate stickers: "These are not minor offenses"
Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) announced to Bild that he wants to make a strong case for tightening the aviation security law: "Blockades of airports with the aim of disrupting the processes there far exceed the limits of legitimate protest. These are not petty offenses either. People are potentially endangered and there is great economic damage," says Wissing.
By the way: Unlike airlines, passengers are not entitled to compensation payments if flights are cancelled due to climate protests. "In the event of possible blockade actions, many travelers from Germany will not be able to board their booked flight as planned, but since problems in flight operations caused by such actions are not the fault of the airline, passengers are not entitled to compensation," said air passenger rights expert Julián Navas of AirHelp recently.
"Last generation" bankrupt after the reckoning? This is how the climate stickers are financed
How much this bill is likely to hurt the climate stickers is shown by a look at the revenues of the "Last Generation": In the transparency report for the year 2022, the "Last Generation" estimated its income in total at over 900,000 euros. Over 890,000 euros of this allegedly came from donations via PayPal, direct transfers, collective donations and crowdfunding. In contrast, the expenditure amounted to just under 534,000 euros. With an initial budget of only 15,000 euros and a surplus of income, the climate activists made a profit of over 383,000 euros. This would mean that a lot more would have to come in for 2023 if Lufthansa's payment requests were to be successful.