BER airport: "Last generation" paralyzes flight operations for two hours

Climate activists from the "Last Generation" group paralyzed flight operations at the capital's BER airport for almost two hours.

According to the federal police, two groups, each consisting of several people, gained access to the airport premises on Thursday afternoon.

Some of them would have glued themselves to the ground.

The group itself said that some activists rode bicycles across the site.

Berlin Airport stopped operations on both runways.

The all-clear came around 6:15 p.m., according to a BER spokesman, both slopes were released again.

Five starts had to be canceled as a result of the action, according to the airport, 750 passengers were affected.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing sharply criticized the actions of the activists.

The right to demonstrate is a fundamental right, but the actions are becoming "more and more unscrupulous," said the FDP politician in the evening via a spokeswoman.

"Society cannot accept such behavior." The rule of law must "take decisive action".

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke of a "renewed escalation".

"These actions destroy important social acceptance for the fight against climate change," said the SPD politician.

A spokeswoman for the airport association ADV said there was no understanding of the protest actions.

"It is unacceptable if air traffic safety is jeopardized."

The German climate commissioner and former Greenpeace boss Jennifer Morgan told the newspapers of the Funke media group that climate protests should not have any negative consequences for other people.

"Every commitment to climate protection must remain within the framework of the laws of our democracy," she demanded.

The deputy parliamentary group leader of the Union parties in the Bundestag, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), sees “another red line” crossed with the impairment of air traffic at BER.

Airports are "not a stage for political action," explained Lindholz, because "human lives could very quickly be endangered there."

She called for "consistent penalties" for the disorder.

The deputy leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz, criticized the action of the climate activists as "counterproductive, presumptuous and potentially dangerous".

In addition, von Notz sees a need to catch up on the security concept of BER.

"It will have to be checked carefully," he told the news portal t-online, "how the activists could manage so easily" to get onto the BER runway.

Linke boss Martin Schirdewan told t-online, on the other hand, that the actions of the climate protest group “Last Generation” were controversial, “but they also put their finger on the wound of political inaction in the face of the climate catastrophe”.

Live stream of the action on Twitter

The activists streamed the action live on Twitter.

There you could see them snapping through a fence shortly after 4:00 p.m. and entering the airport area.

They then held banners up to the camera and explained their motives.

Activists were also seen gluing themselves to the ground and others riding bicycles.

About ten minutes after the start of the action, blue lights could be seen in the live stream, and a little later police officers could also be heard.

According to the federal police, there should be several criminal offenses.

According to the airport spokesman, the activists penetrated the BER site on both the north and south sides - operations had to be stopped on both runways accordingly.

Due to the blockade, five take-offs had to be canceled; according to the airport, further cancellations are possible (as of 7:00 p.m.).

15 planned landings were therefore diverted to Leipzig and Dresden.

The delays in flight operations continued throughout the evening.

The situation in the terminals themselves was said to be calm.

"Not an activist, but a criminal"

Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stübgen said that the action could not be justified by anything.

"I stand by it: anyone who intentionally puts others at risk for their worldview is not an activist, but a criminal," said the CDU politician.

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt spoke of a "new escalation".

"By penetrating the security area and occupying the runway, they are not only putting themselves in serious danger, but also hundreds of passengers in the air and on the ground, and are also causing considerable economic damage.

This is absolutely unacceptable and requires a tough response from the rule of law.”

Katja Mast, First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD in the Bundestag, emphasized: "Our democracy does not work in such a way that I can achieve my goals in the name of a good cause by any means." An airport blockade is not a legitimate means.

"Celebrating it on social media is damaging to the cause as a whole."

The activists of the "last generation" had repeatedly blocked road traffic in the past few weeks, stuck themselves to paintings in museums and this week in Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie at a conductor's podium.

Their goal is to draw public attention to the consequences of climate change and to call on politicians to take action.

You have already received a lot of criticism for these actions.

In a survey, 86 percent of those questioned considered the protests to be counterproductive.