New bird radar

Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport is the first German airport to install the new MAX 3D radar system from the Dutch company Robin Radar Systems to protect against bird strikes. The new technology allows the entire airport grounds to be monitored and detects bird movements within a radius of ten kilometres. The system determines the size, height and flight direction of flocks of birds. Possible collisions between the birds and aircraft taking off or landing can therefore be anticipated in advance and deliberately prevented. The 3D radar system replaces an earlier system from the same company, which went into operation in 2016 and only covered the southern runway. 

Birds caught in the engine of an aircraft taking off or landing can cause damage to the aircraft and lead to serious dangerous situations. The birds at BER are scared off with the help of pyrotechnics. A hunting dog and a falconer with birds of prey are also used to scare away the birds.

Thomas Hoff Anderson, Chief Operations Officer, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “We go to great lengths to offer our customers the highest possible level of safety at BER. For this purpose, we also rely on the use of the latest technologies, be that in the terminals or on the aprons. With MAX, we can now detect flocks of bird more accurately, scare birds away more deliberately, therefore preventing bird strikes more effectively.” 

The information published on this page is as of the date of publication or update.