New flying squad to be hired to keep air traffic safe at Malaga Airport

Malaga Airport operator Aena has invited tenders for the control of fauna by birds of prey on the Costa del Sol airfield to avoid operational disruptions. A minimum of eight hawks and six eagles, trained to drive out or hunt invasive wildlife, is required and the birds must make at least eight daily flights of 15 minutes duration, 365 days a year during various time slots.

Such a programme has been in place since 1991, but the new tender, worth some 147,000 euros, is for eight months. In addition to the birds of prey, the work team must be made up of trainers, and a service coordinator.

In the contract, the birds which are particularly dangerous for air operations are listed in order of lowest to highest risk: small passerines, sparrows, starlings, pigeons, small and medium-sized birds of prey, and vultures.

The job includes a host of complementary items including checking airfield perimeters, study and identification of species, training, and risk assessment.

"The aim is to locate, observe, identify, control and prevent, dissuade, expel and capture wild fauna (birds, hares, rabbits, wild boar, foxes, etc.) and feral domestic animals (dogs, cats and other pets)," the tender states, which add that priority should be given to non-injurious actions.

The importance of minimising incidents is clear from the point of view of air navigation and for the Costa del Sol airport which has had more than 21 million passengers so far this year and which is heading towards an operational rate of one aircraft per minute.