A cull is under way to lower the risk of “bird strike” at Bell Block based New Plymouth airport. Airport manager Kevin Hill said the programme was being carried out because the facility had been assessed as a medium risk of bird strike and Civil Aviation Authority had told them to lower that risk. There were 6.8 bird strikes per 10,000 aircraft movements at the airport in the second quarter of this year. But Mr Hill said airports and birds simply don’t mix. “We certainly don’t want a plane going into a flock of sparrows and bringing the plane down with 50 people on board.” “I like a nice green airport, so we have lots of trees, and trees attract birds. Do you get rid of all the trees and have a big concrete jungle just to reduce the birds? Or do you try and have a combination of both?”
