The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport keeps working hard to ensure passenger security. The goal of minimising bird movement for secure landings and takeoffs is pursued through a number of programmes and inventions. A Farrow’s Light Trap that runs on solar power is the newest addition (FLT).
Farrow’s Light Trap is a special tool for reducing bird activity because it employs green and clean energy and is still an environmentally acceptable technology. The number of bird strikes has drastically dropped in 2022 as a result of numerous initiatives and committed efforts to restrict bird movement.
The recently introduced FLT reduces bird movement by catching insects like crickets, pentatomid bugs, moths, syrphid flies, and earwigs. Rosy Starlings, Mynas, Swallows, and Swifts are among the birds whose activity is mostly restricted and reduced by this system. At SVPIA, most of these are huge flocking birds.
Even grasshoppers can be captured by FLT along with other insects. Due to its colour and light, the specially made FLT draws grasshoppers and insects. Many of the birds you frequently see around the airport feed mostly on these insects and grasshoppers.
The operation of FLT every night ensures that the supply of insects for birds is diminished; on average, FLT may catch about 100 kg of insects during the course of an overnight period. Utilizing FLT will lessen the need for insecticides on the property. The implementation of this new approach has also contributed to a reduction in greater bird movements.
At SVPI airport, aviation safety is of the utmost concern. The highest safety standards are being actively upheld at the airport by the crew. The SVPIA airport frequently performs surveys and consults with district management to create effective plans for eliminating bird risks.
Other steps taken over the past two years to assure the improvement of aviation safety include increasing manpower, using laser guns, zone guns, and bio-acoustic equipment, to name a few.
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