Hamburg Airport - After hostage-taking: airport gates now with ram protection
Almost six weeks after a hostage-taker entered Hamburg Airport, new structural security measures have been put in place at the access roads. These include concrete barriers and mobile ram protection systems, as an airport spokeswoman explained. Some exits have also been relocated. In the coming weeks, permanent reinforcements will replace the immediate measures. The plan is to install massive protection systems such as steel folding gates and hydraulically retractable steel bollards. The airport is investing over one million euros in this.
The modifications are intended to prevent vehicles from forcing their way into the airport grounds. On November 4, a 35-year-old man in a rental car broke through a barrier consisting of several gates and raced onto the airport apron. His four-year-old daughter was also in the car. According to the public prosecutor's office, he fired three shots from a pistol, threw two incendiary devices and threatened with a bomb, which later turned out to be a dummy.
The background to the crime was a custody dispute: The man wanted to force his daughter, who had previously been abducted from his ex-wife's apartment in Stade (Lower Saxony), to leave the country for Turkey. The hostage-taker only surrendered after around 18 hours of negotiations. The incident and the police operation will also be the subject of a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Affairs on Thursday (17:00).
Airport boss Michael Eggenschwiler announced structural measures to improve security after the incident. New cameras and a fence sensor system had already been installed following the intrusion by climate activists last July. These are currently being tested, the airport spokeswoman explained.
Ten members of the Last Generation group cut open the fence on July 13 and rode towards the tarmac on bicycles. According to the Federal Police, four of them had stuck to the access roads near the runways.
Police statement dated 4.11.23 Agenda of the Committee on Internal Affairs
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- The criminal, having entered Hamburg Airport with a rental car, threatened passengers and authorities during a hostage-taking incident.
- To prevent such incidents in the future, Hamburg Airport is investing over one million euros in permanent reinforcements, including steel folding gates and hydraulically retractable steel bollards on access roads.
- In November, a 35-year-old man tried to smuggle his daughter out of Germany by driving a car through several gates and onto the airport apron, leading to hostage-taking and disruption of air traffic.
- The German authorities, concerned about criminality at Hamburg Airport, have implemented safety precautions such as concrete barriers and mobile ram protection systems along access roads.
- Citizenship concerns were a motivation behind the hostage-taking incident at Hamburg Airport, as the man sought to leave Germany with his daughter and travel to Turkey.
Source: www.stern.de
