A study of the site selection of a civil airport based on the risk of bird strikes: The case of Dalian, China

Bird strikes are a potential danger to aviation security. The threat of birds to the flight security of civil airplanes is hard to solve if the existence of birds in nature is ignored. An in-depth study on the living habits of birds and the request for a harmonious coexistence between birds and civil airplanes seems to be an effective way to relieve this contradiction. Taking the case of the site selection of the civil airport in Dalian of China, this paper comprehensively analysed the bird strike assessment of various species of birds near the sites of Zhoushuizi Airport and Jinzhou Bay Airport. The assessment of the risk of bird strikes demonstrated that the site of the Jinzhou Bay airport would have a smaller risk of bird strikes, which could greatly reduce collisions between birds and airplanes and promote aviation security. Such results provide a valuable reference for the site selection of the civil airport in Dalian. As bird strikes are a common problem in the field of civil aviation, the analysis and methods in this paper are a needed reference for the planning and land use of civil airports in other cities. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.