On July 13, 2023, ten climate activists affiliated with Last Generation blocked operations at Hamburg Airport for approximately four hours during the summer holiday period. The action disrupted the operations of Lufthansa Group airlines, reportedly affecting approximately 8,500 passengers and resulting in 57 canceled flights.

Lufthansa brought a civil damages claim against the activists. On November 20, 2025, the Regional Court of Hamburg (Landgericht Hamburg) held the defendants jointly and severally liable for more than €403,000 in damages. The award comprised approximately €207,000 in passenger compensation, €190,000 in lost profits, and approximately €5,000 in additional fuel and delay-related costs. The court also awarded approximately €6,800 in pre-litigation attorneys’ fees, together with interest and costs.

The court based liability primarily on an unlawful interference with the right to an established and operating business (Recht am eingerichteten und ausgeübten Gewerbebetrieb), an “other right” protected under Section 823(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB). The court found that the airport blockade specifically interfered with the organization and operation of the airlines’ businesses. In determining unlawfulness, the court conducted a balancing of interests, recognizing that the activists’ objective—climate protection—was legitimate and, according to the court, essential for the continued existence of human society in its present form. Nevertheless, it concluded that the chosen means were disproportionate because the blockade excessively interfered with the airlines’ lawful business operations and deliberately crossed criminal-law boundaries.

The court further issued an injunction prohibiting the defendants from engaging in further disruptions of flight operations, subject to statutory enforcement measures. The judgment is not yet final. The total amount in dispute was set at €1.1 million, with the damages claim itself valued at €700,000.


Compensation claims by climate activists — Hamburg Airport

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Compensation claims by climate activists — Hamburg Airport - decision

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Compensation claims by climate activists — Hamburg Airport - decision

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance