Munich Airport runway closes amid climate protest

Munich International Airport said on December 8 that one of its two runways was closed briefly amid a climate protest by the group calling itself the "Last Generation".

An airport spokesman described the closure as a "short-lived disturbance", DW reports.

"Near the north runway, some of the protesters briefly glued themselves to the asphalt. I believe it is over."

He said the northern runway was back in operation and that there had been no cancellations or delays, partly because planes could be redirected to the southern runway.

Earlier in the week, the youth climate group Last Generation restarted a campaign to publicize the peril the planet faces with climate change with a series of stunts gamed towards maximum publicity for their activists.

They kicked off the latest round of public actions by supergluing themselves to the road outside Berlin's central train station. In Munich, nine individuals were responsible for blocking traffic around Karlsplatz square with similar tactics.

Last Generation activists also hung signs above the A96 highway in Bavaria.

They have also demanded a speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour (62 miles per hour), a nonstarter in a country where the autobahn is without a speed limit and fast driving is equated with freedom.

Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, told Deutschlandfunk radio earlier in the week, "The state cannot simply look on and let it happen," while calling on authorities to take a harder line against the group's disruptive actions.

In recent weeks the young climate activists have thrown stuff at art, superglued themselves to various edifices and otherwise made noise to call attention to themselves and the climate emergency.