Rising cases of bird strike incidents at Nigeria’s airports may be increasing the burden of infrastructure deficit, OLUSEGUN KOIKI reports.

In the second week of January, a scheduled United Nigeria Airlines flight from Asaba International Airport to Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos was expected to have the least disruption.

The aircraft, an Airbus A320, taxied, accelerated and lifted off as expected. But as the aircraft descended to Lagos airport, an unseen hazard occurred.

Two birds were discovered sucked into the aircraft, an incident that disrupted the airline’s schedules for a few days, as the aeroplane was immediately withdrawn from service for safety checks.

The incident was not just another delay but a financial blow to the airline, adding to the growing list of costly encounters with wildlife at Nigeria’s airports.

However, this was not an isolated incident. Last week, within 48 hours, the same airline suffered three separate bird strikes, forcing multiple aircraft out of operation and disrupting its network.

Between January, when the first bird strike incident occurred, and last week, it witnessed at least seven such disruptions.

Across the aviation industry, such occurrences are not strange. Almost all the indigenous airlines – Air Peace, Ibom Air, Aero Contractors, ValueJet, Max Air and Overland – and foreign carriers have been unfortunate enough to be caught in the web of bird-strike incidents.

What appears to be an occasional encounter between aircraft and birds has quietly evolved into one of the most persistent and expensive threats to airline operations in the country.

However, bird strikes are not new to the global aviation industry. Globally, they have long been recognised as a safety and operational threat. But in Nigeria, the problem has taken on a dreaded economic dimension.

Statistics show that approximately 95 per cent of bird strike incidents occur below 3,000 feet, precisely when aircraft are taking off or landing.

Bird strikes cost airlines an estimated $1.2 billion annually, according to data from the United Kingdom Central Science Laboratory.

Industry stakeholders estimate that Nigerian airlines lose at least N60 billion yearly to aircraft damage, operational disruptions and associated costs linked to bird strikes and wildlife incursions.

Also, recent data from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) shows that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) recorded the highest number of bird-strike incidents in the country, reflecting both its traffic volume and its exposure to environmental risk factors.

Other airports with frequent occurrences include Port Harcourt, Owerri, Benin and Uyo, among others.

According to the then Director of Aerodrome and Airspace Standards at the NCAA (now Director of Airworthiness Standards), Mr Godwin Balang, the findings emerged from qualitative and statistical analyses of bird-strike reports submitted by aerodrome operators.

Balang noted that a record of four bird-strike incidents was logged in a single day on Runway 18 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in 2025.

For airlines operating in an environment defined by high fuel costs, foreign exchange pressures and limited access to financing, the financial consequences of these incidents can be severe.

In Nigeria, operators say the impact is exaggerated by weak financial gains and aging infrastructure at most of the airports.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in a recent interview with journalists in Lagos, said the airline recorded 43 bird strikes across Nigeria’s airports between January and September 2025, a development he said caused serious operational setbacks.

Onyema outlined some of the major difficulties confronting Nigerian airlines, citing frequent bird strikes, heavy taxation and persistent criticism from government agencies as key challenges.

He said: “Air Peace has had 43 bird strikes in Nigeria from January to September. One bird strike could cripple your aircraft for the next month. At that moment, there’s no two ways about it.

“These bird strikes often lead to costly delays and serious disruptions in flight schedules. Aircraft go out of service, passengers are stranded, and the ripple effects spread across the entire operation.”

Also, Safety Manager at Arik Air, Jide Bakare, said the airline lost about $3.6 million over six years due to bird-strike incidents.

According to him, in 2019 alone, Arik Air spent $430,000 replacing damaged components, while two separate incidents in Enugu cost an additional $466,000.

Such figures, he lamented, echo strongly with investors and lessors, expressing that modern jet engines cost millions of dollars, while minor bird ingestion could necessitate extensive inspections or premature component replacement.

According to him, about 95 per cent of bird strikes occur below 3,000 feet, a stage when aircraft are most vulnerable and pilots have the least flexibility.

Also, aviation stakeholder, Olumide Ohunayo, criticised the current approach adopted by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to managing the incident.

According to Ohunayo, the agency’s approach is ineffective due to the absence of reliable data.

Ohunayo argued that the persistence of bird strike occurrences without noticeable improvement raises concerns about whether the right strategies are being deployed to tackle the challenge.

He declared that when efforts do not yield positive results over time, it either suggests that nothing significant was being done or that the approach being adopted was fundamentally flawed.

He listed critical data points to capture, including the exact location of each incident, whether it occurred during aircraft approach or takeoff, the species of bird involved, the time of day, day of the week, and the season of the year.

He also expressed claims in some quarters that airlines may be exaggerating the incidents.

However, he maintained that such arguments could only be resolved with verifiable, comprehensive data.

“There are claims and counterclaims about the frequency and severity of bird strikes, but the only way to determine what is true or false is through proper documentation and analysis.

“It is important to know when these incidents happen, where they happen, and the type of birds involved. These are the basic elements needed to understand the problem.”

Fiscal intervention

However, in a bid to address the situation, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, in its 2026 appropriation spending, planned to acquire additional Phoenix Airport wailers MK IV Bird Deterrent Systems for Kano, Benin, and Kaduna airports at a cost of N7,000,000.

According to the ministry, the project was “ongoing.”

Besides, FAAN recently said it was prepared to reposition its approach to wildlife management.

FAAN Managing Director, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, described bird strikes as one of the most pressing challenges inherited by the current administration.

According to her, FAAN has since altered grass-cutting schedules, shifting mowing to nighttime to reduce insect exposure that attracts birds.

Beyond procedural changes, Kuku also unveiled plans to take delivery of modern wildlife-control equipment from Canada, including mobile bird-dispersal technology mounted on vehicles.

Kuku argued that sustained progress could also strengthen Nigeria’s safety rating in International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) assessments, a key factor, she said, necessary for expanding international connectivity and attracting foreign carriers.

Also, a source close to FAAN, who didn’t want his name mentioned, said that a bird strike is a global phenomenon.

The source, however, said that FAAN had recently taken some steps to reduce the bird strike menace, but regretted that the recent development posed a new threat to those efforts.

The source also doubted the authenticity of some airline operators’ claims about the frequency of the incidents.

The source said: “We already have some important information about the bird incidents, but we are not making it public, at least for now. The fact is that we can mitigate the situation, but we can’t stop it.

“To some extent, we have issues with some of these claims by the operators. We have cases where some of these issues are being debated.

“We, however, show empathy to the affected airlines. There are constant Notice To Airmen

(NOTAM) to pilots where they are alerted about the possibility of birds. But bird-strike incidents are consistently high between February and April in Nigeria. We are engaging a lot of organisations, including a support group from ICAO, to address the issue.”

The battle against bird strikes is not just about keeping birds away from aircraft. It is about building an aviation ecosystem where infrastructure, environmental management and regulatory enforcement work in harmony. (The Guardian)