Climate activists glued themselves to the ground at Cologne-Bonn Airport in western Germany on Wednesday, forcing officials to halt aircraft for a few hours, authorities said, and ABC reported.
In the latest in a series of airport protests causing aircraft delays by climate activists in recent years, five persons adhered themselves to a taxiway at the airport early in the morning yesterday, according to German news agency DPA.
Flights were stopped for roughly three hours beginning at 5:45 a.m. as police sought to remove the demonstrators.
The airport reported that 31 aircrafts were canceled, and six had to be rerouted.
Supporters in small groups cut through the surrounding fence, reached the airport, and then adhered themselves to the asphalt using a sand and glue concoction, the activist organization said in a statement.
The organization is demanding that the German government negotiate and sign an international agreement on phasing out the use of oil, gas, and coal by 2030.
On Monday, the German cabinet proposed legislation that would increase penalties for anyone who breaches past airport perimeters.
The measure, which has yet to be approved by Parliament, would impose prison terms of up to two years in jail for those who purposefully enter airport zones such as taxiways or runways, threaten civil aviation, or assist someone else in doing so. Under present law, such trespasses can only result in a fine.
Activists described the Cologne-Bonn event as one of several coordinated protests happening around the same time in Europe.
A few protestors disrupted the main check-in area at Helsinki Airport in Finland for around 30 minutes, but police claimed the action did not create any aircraft delays or other disruptions.
Three activists entered the runway area at Oslo’s major Gardermoen airport in Norway early Wednesday morning, waving banners and interrupting aviation traffic for roughly 30 minutes just before 6 a.m. According to police, there were no significant flight delays.
Last June, Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists sprayed US pop star Taylor Swift’s private jet with orange paint at Stansted Airport in Essex to protest against excessive fuel use amid climate change.
One day before, other JSO activists sprayed an orange substance on Stonehenge, the renowned prehistoric UNESCO world heritage site in southwest England, using “orange cornflour” to deface the ancient stones.