The Australian Airports Association (AAA) commissioned preparation of this Airport Practice Note to provide aerodrome operators with species information fact sheets to assist them to manage the wildlife hazards at their aerodrome. The species information fact sheets were originally published in June 2004 by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) as Bird Information Fact Sheets.
The AAA was prompted to revise and add additional fact sheets for supplementary species by the release of the ATSB Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics 2004 – 2013 report. This report listed Kites and Bat/ Flying Foxes as having the largest overall number of strikes in the 2012-2013 reporting period representing a demonstrated risk to safe operations. As a result of this report the AAA partnered with Avisure in consultation with the ATSB to update the existing fact sheets and create new species information fact sheets focused on managing the strike risk of these species at Australian airports.
These new and revised fact sheets provide airport members with useful information and data regarding common wildlife species around Australian aerodromes and how best to manage these animals. The up-to-date suite of species information fact sheets will provide aerodrome operators with access to data, information and management techniques for the species posing the greatest risk to safe aerodrome operations in Australia. It is hoped that this document will be a worthwhile and useful asset to aerodrome operators across Australia and the AAA would like to acknowledge the contribution of Avisure and the ATSB in the development of this project.