Lufthansa hits back with lawsuits after climate protest at Frankfurt

Climate activists are resorting to increasingly serious actions. Paralyzing airports or gluing themselves to highways has become a daily occurrence. Environmental activists are doing everything they can to draw the attention of politicians and society to global warming. Their actions often face criticism, which isn’t surprising—some protests expose global companies to multimillion-dollar losses. As a result, activists regularly find themselves in court, sued for causing disruptions.

On July 25, 2024, Last Generation activists blocked Frankfurt Airport in Germany. They announced their action in a post on platform X. The activists wrote: "The continued extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal poses a threat to our existence. We have joined forces internationally. Get rid of fossils by 2030".

The actions of Last Generation prompted a reaction from one of the largest airlines. Lufthansa decided to sue the activists for causing disruptions. According to the newspaper "Bild," the airline expects multimillion-dollar compensation. German media report that the activists caused several hours of flight service interruptions, resulting in over 160 flights being canceled. Planes that were supposed to land in Frankfurt were redirected to Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, and Stuttgart.

The editorial team of "Bild" reports that many passengers missed their connecting flights in the meantime, and Lufthansa planes could not take off on scheduled routes. A Lufthansa spokesperson announced that the airline would be filing lawsuits amounting to many millions of euros. The court notifications are set to concern activists who blocked Frankfurt Airport.