Keeping airports safe for every user

Company Scarecrow – a robin company
Date 23.03.2023

If you were to Google the words ‘increase safety awareness in airports’, you will be met with a list of web pages offering advice and opinions on security issues, as well as safety advice for travellers. For those who work in the industry, there’s more to safety than this, of course. If you happen to be an Operations Manager in an international airport, you’ll be all too aware that this is a role that requires a great deal of metaphorical juggling. 

A day in the life of one of the busier facilities can involve dealing with one potential crisis after another at times. This, put simply, is not a role for those who don’t enjoy a challenge. Ensuring the safety of everyone within the airport perimeter is a highly complex process, of course, and one of the most overlooked aspects of this is the need to keep the presence of land- and air-based wildlife well away from the planes that are taking off and landing. 

It’s so important to bear in mind that those in charge of keeping runways as safe as possible via a practical wildlife management plan have a huge amount of responsibility. And for the average person, there could be a perception that this responsibility is only applicable to airline passengers. In reality, however, this is only a small part of a much larger picture; they also need to provide a safe environment for crew members and of course everyone who works in an airside environment. 

Building a reliable picture of activities 

To that end, the utilisation of effective bird deterrent systems has rapidly become an absolute must. In recent years, there has been a much-needed upsurge in the number of bird strikes – or near-misses – that have been reported. This has given the industry a valuable insight into the frequency and the potential dangers of each incident. The picture that has been built up has enabled the authorities to further understand the complex risks that the sector faces. 

 And while bird strikes are the more prominent threat, we’ve also seen several incidents of land-based animals providing a potential danger on runways around the world. This can come from deer, coyotes, monkeys, foxes, sheep, kangaroos, wild pigs and many others. If an airport has a strong, complete fence surrounding it – and most of them don’t – then they have a deterrent in place. Even then, however, creatures may be able to get over or under them, or damage them enough in some areas to gain access to the runway. If certain animals are determined enough to get somewhere, they will often do exactly that. 

Here at Scarecrow, we have been supplying top of the range bird dispersal equipment for many years, covering locations in all parts of the world. If you’re an airport or aerodrome manager who’s looking to improve the safety of your facility, why not get in touch with our team today? Simply call +44 (0) 1825 766363 or write to us via our contact page. We hope to hear from you very soon. 

Contact

Scarecrow Group Head Office
The Old Dairy, Straight Half Mile
Maresfield
East Sussex
United Kingdom
TN22 2HH
  • +44 (0) 1825 766 363