COLOGNE, Germany — The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is hosting a free online wildlife hazard webinar Thursday. It brings together airlines, airport operators, and aviation stakeholders at the height of Europe’s peak bird-strike season.
The session — part of EASA’s “Go Safe Together — Europe’s Summer Safety Campaign 2026” — takes place June 5 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CET via Webex. Aviation professionals across the industry can join at no cost.
Why Summer Elevates Wildlife Risk
Summer creates overlapping pressures that push bird-strike risk higher at airports. Juvenile birds disperse from nesting areas, and seasonal insects draw additional species toward runway environments. Traffic volumes also climb sharply during this period — all factors converging during the June–September window.
Additionally, EASA notes that increased wildlife activity coincides directly with elevated traffic levels and shifting environmental conditions around aerodromes. That combination makes proactive wildlife hazard management especially critical during the season.
European civil airports collectively report thousands of wildlife strikes each year to ICAO’s Bird Strike Information System. Most occur at lower altitudes near airports. That’s precisely where ground-level programs, staff awareness, and cross-stakeholder coordination deliver the most impact.
EASA Wildlife Hazard Webinar: Three Focus Areas
Thursday’s EASA wildlife hazard webinar covers practical management approaches across three connected areas. Participants will learn to identify local wildlife risks at individual aerodromes. They will also review hazard reporting through established safety channels, and explore ways to strengthen operational collaboration between airport teams and airlines.
EASA frames the session around awareness, communication, and early action. These principles place human behavior and organizational readiness at the center of risk reduction — alongside physical deterrents. The agency says the webinar will examine how proactive wildlife risk management supports safer operations across the full aviation system.
easyJet and Birdstrike Management Limited (BML) are supporting the webinar. BML specializes in airport wildlife strike prevention; easyJet contributes frontline airline operational experience. Together, they bring practitioner perspectives from both the airline and wildlife management sides of the problem.
Campaign Context and Themes
The wildlife hazard webinar closes EASA’s Go Safe Together campaign week, which runs June 1–5, 2026. The campaign targets airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, ground handlers, maintenance organizations, and aviation training bodies across Europe.
Five themes anchor the campaign’s safety culture message: “This Is How We Do Safety,” “You Are Safety,” “Every Task Matters,” “Speak Up. Learn. Improve.,” and “Making Safety Happen.” Rather than promoting abstract awareness, the campaign aims to spark concrete local activities — toolbox talks, safety walks, and operational briefings.
Thursday’s webinar fits squarely within that practical orientation. It applies the campaign’s human-factors lens to wildlife strike risk — one of summer’s most operationally immediate airport hazards.
How to Participate
The webinar runs online via Webex. Attendees can submit questions before and during the session through Slido at slido.com using event code #Gosafe26.
Organizations wishing to join the broader Go Safe Together campaign can contact EASA’s Safety Promotion team at safetypromotion@easa.europa.eu. The same contact handles requests to share local wildlife safety initiatives.
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