The Federal Ministry of Air Transportation has approved N17,158,150 for the on-going bird hazard management implementation programme at the nation's 21 airports.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Akin Olukunle, said in this in a statement issued in Ikeja today.
It said Minister of State for Air Transportation, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode, announced the gesture at a meeting with FAAN and NCAA officials in Abuja on Tuesday.
Olukunle said the fund, according to the FAAN Managing Director, Mr Muhammad Yusufu, was required as a start-off estimate for the Falconry and Border Collie Dogs programme.
The programme is part of the harassment programme of birds and wildlife from the runways.
It recalled that FAAN had already spent N62 million for the procurement of equipment for the first phase of the bird hazard control programme at the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports, out of an estimated N424 million meant for the full implementation of the programme.
``The Phase II of the programme, which will cover Calabar, Owerri, Enugu, Benin, Jos, Kaduna, Ilorin and Maiduguri airports, is expected to take off any moment from now and N133.5 million is estimated for the full implementation of the programme at the affected airports,'' it added.
The statement said the directorate of Environmental Services of FAAN, would also in due course, implement the Phase III of the programme to cover the Sokoto, Yola, Maiduguri, Akure, Ibadan, Minna, Katsina and Zaria airports, with an estimated sum of N933 million.
It said FAAN was also addressing the issue of delayed payment to waste management contractors, to guard against possible improper refuse disposal at the airports which could be an attraction to birds.
FAAN said last month that it had invested N 60million in bird control equipment to reduce the incident of bird strikes, which is a global problem.
Bird strikes often result in damage to engines of aircraft and huge losses and it is a major cause of concern to airline operators.
On April 29, a NICON airways aircraft suffered a bird strike as it was taking off from Lagos, causing it to abort the flight after one of its engines suffered damage.
The NICON incident came days after an Aero Contractors aircraft suffered the same fate in Owerri, leading to the grounding of the plane due to damage to its engine.
Days before, Virgin Nigeria Airways counted its losses to bird strike, saying that it suffered nine strikes in the last six months.
Mr Michael Mc-Tighe, Managing Director of Arik Air, the latest entrant into the nation's aviation industry, explained while reviewing the operations of the airline after six months, that bird strikes had been one of its greatest challenges.