Today’s news / Geese causing issues at Kastrup airport
Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Geese causing issues at Kastrup airport

Hundreds of planes and small birds collide in the air every year without causing turbulence. But larger species – geese – can play a greater role in air traffic. An increasing number of geese around Copenhagen Airport pose a risk to flight safety, according to a press release from Aarhus University Technical Sciences, which in collaboration with Copenhagen Airport has studied the behaviour of geese in the area. The geese forage in the fields around the airport. Large flocks move in the morning and evening across the runways between their overnight sites on Kalvebod Fælled and open fields, at great risk to aircraft landing or taking off. Dorte Nygaard, who works with surveillance and risk management in relation to flight safety at Copenhagen Airport, told Ritzau that if a plane collides with a goose, it is a question of where the goose hits. However, she points out that compared to the number of geese around the airport, the number of collisions with geese is very low. Overall, there have been three cases this year. /ritzau/