... writes Rose Bridger, author of Plane Truth: Aviation's Real Impact on People and the Environment, in The Ecologist and the accompanying blog post Airports are waging a war against birdlife. They are important articles, highlighting the cost to birds across the world in the struggle to manage the risk of birdstrike to aircraft. As she says:
Keep airports away from birds! ...the most effective way of minimising bird strikes, aside from constraining aviation growth so that skies are not so crowded, is not to build airports in or near important bird habitats and migratory flightpaths.
The corollary for airports already in place is: don't build developments that attract birdlife - quarries with water being one of them, as proposed here at Straitgate by Aggregate Industries - directly beneath their landing and take-off airspace.
Exeter Airport, now owned by Rigby Group plc, has seen passenger growth pick-up after a six year hiatus. Sir Peter Rigby said: "We see great opportunities to cement Exeter’s position as the gateway airport to the South West and a real driver for economic growth." Matt Roach, managing director of Exeter Airport, said: “We’ve had a very encouraging start to the year and are well on course to exceed three quarters of a million passengers in 2015."
