From airports, birds are polygonated – Newspaper Kommersant No. 28 (7473) of 02/15/2023

According to Kommersant, the airport community is asking the Prosecutor General’s Office to intervene and suspend the government’s decision, which, in their opinion, threatens flight safety. In January, the government halved the distance from airfields where landfills and landfills are allowed. To do this, the owners of such objects until September 1, 2024 are required to conduct “ornithological studies” that do not attract birds. Major airports believe that the amendments will legitimize the placement of landfills and the consequences could be catastrophic.

As it became known to Kommersant, the International Airports Association (IAA) asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to suspend the government’s decree, which amends the current regulation on airfield territories (Decree No. 1460). “In fact, the practice of placing garbage dumps near airports is being legitimized,” the IAA letter of February 3 says (Kommersant has it).

The Decree, approved on January 24, 2023, changes the boundaries of the so-called sixth subzone of aerodrome territories. In such a subzone, it was forbidden to place objects that contribute to the attraction and mass accumulation of birds: landfills, landfills, etc. The new version of the document obliges all owners of such objects to undergo an “ornithological study” by September 1, 2024 on whether they attract birds. The order and terms of the study are determined by the Ministry of Natural Resources, it is paid by the owner of the object. If, following the results of the inspection, a conclusion is issued that the landfill is sufficiently protected from birds, the facility can continue to work. Otherwise, the owner must take measures to increase protection and conduct a new study within six months. And only if even then the check fails, the owner must ensure the “demolition and reconstruction of the facility.”

In the previous edition, the boundary of the sixth subzone was set at 15 km from the control point of the airfield; now this distance is reduced depending on the “degree of protection” of the object. If the facility is equipped with an “automated integrated system for detecting and scaring away birds”, the boundary is 7.5 km, and facilities “of a closed type that do not allow access to birds” or simply “equipped with a scaring system” are 10 km. The decree does not provide specifics on the qualification of devices, it lists all available methods: from rocket launchers, stuffed animals and rattles to lasers and electronic installations.

Sheremetyevo and other airports interviewed by Kommersant supported the appeal of the IAA. Domodedovo added that in 2022 the airport asked the government, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Air Transport Agency to “block the adoption of the project”. Representatives of the IAA and the heads of the largest airports sent appeals to the Ministry of Transport, the issue was discussed “at meetings, including at the level of the government apparatus, which did not produce results.” The Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency declined to comment.

In Vnukovo, Kommersant was told that, given the length of their runway, the allowable distance to a potentially dangerous object is reduced “to only 5 km, which carries critical risks for the airport,” and the amendments do not take into account aircraft routes. The new version of the resolution leads to a decrease in flight safety, “because, in fact, it removes the problem of existing landfills and, through the possibility of obtaining a “correct” ornithological study, creates the possibility of building new landfills.”

Vnukovo is waiting for a list of organizations from the government that will receive the right to conduct ornithological research: “There is a big difference between classical ornithology, the task of which is the preservation of birds, and aviation ornithology (protection from birds). Experts of the first type exist – for example, the All-Russian Research Institute of Ecology, and the second type is unknown to us.

Airports are in an extremely difficult situation, IAA executive director Sergei Nikotin told Kommersant. The Decree does not provide for the certification of systems and technologies for scaring away birds by either the Federal Air Transport Agency or any other agency. “We need a federal agency that will be responsible for regulatory documents, characteristics and requirements for bird scaring systems, now this is not there,” he said.

At the end of December, the IAA sent its comments to the draft resolution to the government. Among the key proposals is the mandatory involvement of airfield operators in research. “If research is carried out by only two parties – the interested subject of the Russian Federation and the owner of the object, then it will be extremely difficult to exclude the corruption factor,” explains Mr. Nikotin. The second proposal is to exclude the appearance of new objects in the sixth subzone. Airports also suggest putting local authorities before a choice: if the object does not pass the “ornithological study” the first time, either the landfill itself or the airfield should be closed. “This will force the subjects to choose their priorities correctly,” notes Sergey Nikotin. Finally, the IAA emphasizes that the very reduction of distances to 7.5 km requires independent research.

According to the statistics of the Federal Air Transport Agency, in 2022 there were 941 collisions of aircraft with birds, of which 809 occurred from April to October. For comparison, in 2019 – 1.3 thousand. Since 2010, there have been three serious aviation accidents.

In 2022, a court hearing a dispute between Zhukovsky Airport and the insurer of Ural Airlines’ Airbus that crashed due to a bird strike refused to bring garbage collection companies and local officials as co-respondents. Now, in the presence of a conclusion on ornithological safety, it will be even more difficult to hold the owner of a conditional landfill liable, says Yury Fedyukin, managing partner of Enterprise Legal Solutions.

Aigul Abdullina