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Disruption at Leipzig/Halle airport after climate protest

Cargo flight operations were suspended for several hours and there is some disruption to passenger traffic after climate activists launched a protest at Leipzig/Halle airport.

Published: 1 August 2024 09:29 CEST
A hole in the fence at Leipzig/Halle airport.
A hole in the fence at Leipzig/Halle airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Julius-Christian Schreiner | Julius-Christian Schreiner

Five people stuck themselves to the ground in the southern section of Saxony’s largest airport shortly after midnight, and two others were prevented from doing so, according to a spokesperson for the police.

Officers discovered holes in the fence at the edge of the site believed to have been made by the protesters. At around 5 am, the activists were released from the ground and removed from the tarmac. The ‘Last Generation’ group claimed responsibility for the disruption.

A view of Leipzig/Halle airport.

A view of Leipzig/Halle airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Julius-Christian Schreiner | Julius-Christian Schreiner

According to an airport spokesperson, cargo flight operations had to be suspended for around three hours from around shortly after midnight, while passenger flight operations began with some delays on Thursday morning. 

A notice on the airport’s website said: “In the early morning of August 1st, several people illegally gained access to the security area at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

“Due to the resulting police action, flight operations were suspended from 12:24 am. The restrictions affected cargo traffic. Passenger flights do not take place at Leipzig/Halle Airport during this period due to a night flight restriction.

“Flight operations were resumed from 03:23. As a result of the police measures, there may be delays in the handling of passenger flights, which are scheduled to take off at 05:30.”

Some take-offs were hit with delays later in the morning. 

Leipzig/Halle Airport says it is the fourth largest hub for air freight in Europe, handling around 1.4 million tonnes of freight every year.

The ‘Last Generation’ group said they wanted to make a statement on the tarmac against the increase in air traffic, the planned expansion of airport capacity and the lack of a plan by the German government to rapidly phase out fossil fuels.

Posts by the group on the X social media platform stated that the blockade primarily affected cargo traffic. They included photos and videos on several posts with signs that said: ‘Oil kills’. One tweet said: “We demand the development and signing of an international fossil fuel phase-out treaty.”

The activists are now being investigated for unauthorised presence in the security area, trespassing and interfering with air traffic, said a spokesperson for the police.

Last week, climate demonstrators paralysed flight operations for several hours at both Frankfurt Airport and Cologne/Bonn Airport.

There was also a peaceful protest at Stuttgart Airport without any restrictions on air traffic.

As a result, several German airports say they will be taking extra security precautions.

READ ALSO: Why are Last Generation activists in Germany getting prison sentences?

With reporting by DPA

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TRAVEL NEWS

Germany begins expanded border checks to limit migrant arrivals

Germany from Monday is expanding border controls to the frontiers with all nine of its neighbours to stop irregular migrants in a move that has sparked protests from other EU members.

Published: 16 September 2024 09:07 CEST
Germany begins expanded border checks to limit migrant arrivals

The government announced the sweeping measure following a string of deadly extremist attacks that have stoked public fears and boosted support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Sunday said that the step aimed to limit irregular migration and “put a stop to criminals and identify and stop Islamists at an early stage”.

The border controls will be in place for an initial six months and are expected to include temporary structures at land crossings and spot checks by federal police.

Poland and Austria have voiced concern and the European Commission has warned that members of the 27-nation bloc must only impose such steps in exceptional circumstances.

Germany lies at the heart of Europe and borders nine countries that are part of the visa-free Schengen zone, designed to allow the free movement of people and goods.

Border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland were already in place before the crackdown was announced.

These will now be expanded to Germany’s borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

Faeser said the government hoped to minimise the impact on people living and working in border regions, promising “coordination with our neighbouring countries”. She also pointed out that there should be “targeted controls, not blanket controls”.

The interior ministry however noted that travellers should carry identification when crossing the border.

READ ALSO: How Germany’s increased border checks will affect travel from neighbouring countries

‘Islamist attacks’

In recent weeks, a string of extremist attacks have shocked Germany, fuelling rising public anger.

Last month, a man on a knife rampage killed three people and wounded eight more at a festival in the western city of Solingen.

The Syrian suspect, who has alleged links to the Islamic State group, had been intended for deportation but managed to evade authorities.

The enforcement failure set off a bitter debate which marked the run-up to two regional polls in the formerly communist east, where the anti-immigration AfD scored unprecedented results.

With national elections looming next year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has been under intense political pressure to toughen its stance on migrants and asylum seekers.

READ ALSO: Debt, migration and the far-right – the big challenges facing Germany this autumn 

Scholz was in Uzbekistan on Sunday to sign a migration deal for workers to come to Germany, while simplifying deportation procedures in the opposite direction so that “those that must go back do go back”, the chancellor said.

Closer to home, the German government has presented plans to speed up deportations to European partners.

Under EU rules, asylum requests are meant to be handled by the country of arrival. The system has placed a huge strain on countries on the European periphery, where leaders have demanded more burden-sharing.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that Germany tightening its borders means that it would “essentially pass the buck to countries located on the outer borders of Europe”.

Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said his country “will not accept people who are rejected from Germany”, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned Germany’s move as “unacceptable”.

‘Welcome to the club’

Warsaw has also struggled with migration and accused Moscow of smuggling people from Africa and the Middle East into Europe by sending them through Belarus to the Polish border.

Berlin on Friday said that Tusk and Scholz had discussed the issue and agreed to strengthen EU external borders, “especially in view of the cynical instrumentalisation of migrants by Belarus”.

Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, meanwhile, mocked the German chancellor on social media site X, writing: “Bundeskanzler Scholz, welcome to the club! #StopMigration.”

Germany took in more than a million asylum seekers in 2015-16, many of them Syrians, and has hosted over a million Ukrainians since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.

The extra burden on municipal authorities and integration services in Germany needed to be “taken into account” when talking about new border controls, Berlin’s interior ministry said.

In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday unveiled the country’s strictest migration policy yet, saying it will request an opt-out from EU common policy on asylum next week.

A four-party coalition dominated by far-right firebrand Geert Wilders’s Freedom Party wants to declare an “asylum crisis” to curb the influx of migrants through a tough set of rules including border controls.

By Raphaelle LOGEROT with Celine LE PRIOUX in Berlin

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