Dublin Airport flights suffer 278 bird strikes in three years despite €600k spend to repel flocks

Just last month, an Aer Lingus flight bound for New York was forced to return to Dublin Airport after it hit a flock of pigeons during its ascent. File photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

There have been 278 bird strikes at Dublin Airport in the past three years despite management spending around €600,000 on ‘scaring’ measures designed to keep flocks away from the runways.

Aircraft also struck hares a total of 42 times during the same period, prompting the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to conduct catch-and-release operations that involved hares being relocated to Wicklow and Kildare.