Climate activists halt traffic at Germany's Frankfurt airport

AFP | Frankfurt, Germany

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

Frankfurt police yesterday arrested climate activists who brought Germany's busiest airport to a standstill by gluing themselves to the tarmac. Traffic was halted for two hours during the busy summer holiday season before the first of the airport's landing runways was able to operate again at 0502 GMT, said an airport spokesman.

Seven activists had managed to reach the runway where they glued themselves onto the tarmac, a police spokesman said. An eighth was still trying to get through the perimeter fence when he was detained. Police were able to remove the activists from the airport's restricted grounds by 0815 GMT. All eight were placed under provisional arrest.

Climate activist group "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) claimed responsibility for the civil disobedience action. Its members used pincers to cut openings in the wire fence before making their way "by foot, with bicycles and skateboards to different points around the runways", the group said.

A photo circulated by the group depicted a protester sitting on the tarmac with an orange banner that read: "Oil kills".The group is pushing for a binding international accord that would lead to an end in oil, gas and coal use by 2030.