Muan Airport 'bird strike warning'...repeated at Jeju 2nd Airport
Bird strikes have been cited as one of the causes of the Jeju Air passenger plane crash at Muan Airport. The risk of bird collisions was also raised in the environmental impact assessment for the runway expansion at Muan Airport, which was conditionally approved in 2022. As such, the surrounding bird environment must be considered in airport operations.
In this situation, the second airport in Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, which is being promoted as a new airport in Jeju, is in the spotlight again. This is because the concerns raised in the Muan Airport Environmental Impact Assessment are being repeated in the Jeju 2nd Airport Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment.
■ Muan International Airport Environmental Impact Assessment also raised concerns about bird collisions and ordered mitigation measures.
April 2022, Muan International Airport Environmental Impact Assessment Main Draft Conditional Consultation
Status of surrounding migratory bird roads in the Muan Airport Environmental Impact Statement
The runway extension project of Muan International Airport was subjected to a draft environmental impact assessment in 2021, which was subjected to supplementary requirements, and was subsequently passed as a conditional consultation by the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Protection Agency in April 2022. According to the assessment report, there are four migratory bird arrival sites within 13 kilometers around Muan International Airport. They surround the airport.
The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Protection Agency ordered measures to prevent aircraft collisions and minimize damage to habitats, noting that a variety of birds, including geese and storks, are found there. It also required immediate implementation of compensatory measures in case of unexpected damage.
Many of Korea's airports are located in the plains or along the coast, far away from urban centers, due to noise and safety concerns.
Lee Geun-young, a professor at the Korea Aerospace University's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, explained that "airports are easy to get to the sea, and migratory birds prefer to avoid densely populated areas and prefer areas where they can breed."
This is why the potential for bird collisions is a controversial issue whenever a new airport is selected.
■Planned map of Jeju's second airport "4 migratory bird nesting sites"..."It looks like Muan Airport"
Location of the proposed Seongsan 2nd Airport in Seogwipo City, Jeju Island
In September last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport finalized and notified the basic plan for the construction of Jeju's second airport. It has been nine years since the government announced plans to build Jeju's second airport in 2015. The total project cost is KRW 5.45 trillion, and if all goes according to plan, the airport is expected to be completed in 2034. A 3.2-kilometer runway and terminal, similar to Jeju International Airport, will be built on a total site of 5.51 million square meters, with a capacity to handle 16.9 million passengers per year.
However, there are four migratory bird migration sites around the proposed project site.
Migratory birds within a 13km radius of the proposed Jeju 2nd Airport construction project.
In the strategic environmental impact assessment, the MOLIT surveyed more than 140 species of birds and 56,000 individuals. In addition, the habitat of the hawk, a class 1 endangered species, was found within 5 kilometers of the project site.
■ Bird collision concerns since the strategic environmental impact assessment of Jeju's second airport..."Measures such as reviewing the location are necessary"
The Jeju second airport construction project is about to undergo an environmental impact assessment and bid for basic design. We take a look at what concerns were raised about aircraft-bird collisions during the 2023 Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment.
The Korea Environment Research Institute, a national research institute under the Prime Minister's Office, raised issues with the appropriateness of the location in its review opinion.
The organization stated that MOLIT's proposed bird habitat conservation plan to prevent aircraft-bird collisions did not meet the purpose of the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment because it fundamentally failed to properly examine the issue of the second airport location.
For birds of legal protection, habitat restoration and adaptation takes more than 10 years, making MOLIT's prediction of bird migration to alternative areas ineffective. In particular, the organization suggested that MOLIT's comprehensive assessment methodology for aircraft flight safety was inadequate because it missed some high-collision risk distribution areas.
The National Ecological Center also raised similar concerns and pointed out the need for alternatives.
Meanwhile, the MOLIT conditionally agreed to these expert organizations' review comments on bird-aircraft collisions, telling them to come up with alternatives during the subsequent environmental impact assessment deliberations, and passed the ball to Jeju Island.
■ Recent uncertainty over the bird environment at Airport 2 ..."There is virtually no alternative," says a domestic expert
MOLIT responded to bird-aircraft collision concerns about Jeju's second airport by saying that it would prepare alternatives such as alternative habitats, expanding bird control personnel, and encouraging birds to disperse. KBS reporters spoke to Korean experts about the options for bird-aircraft collisions.
Lee Woo-shin, professor emeritus at Seoul National University (author of Korea's new bird), "Spoonbills on Jeju should be paid attention to"
Migratory bird migration at Jongdal-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si, last October
Flocks of spoonbills, a Class 1 endangered species and natural monument, have visited Jeju again this year. They were spotted busily foraging and resting in Jongdal-ri, Gujwa-eup, within a 13-kilometer radius of the proposed project site.
In an interview with KBS, Lee Woo-shin, a professor emeritus at Seoul National University, asked if it was right to build an airport near the migratory bird's nesting grounds, and emphasized the importance of paying attention to the spoonbills visiting the proposed site of the second airport.
"There are only 6-7 thousand spoonbills left in the world, and more than 90% of them breed on uninhabited islands off the west coast of Korea," Lee said. "Many of them, including some from China and Russia, visit Jeju's Hadori and Jongdali migratory sites every year as wintering grounds or stopovers, including the west coast."
The migratory route of the spoonbill, which travels from China and Russia to Jeju every year.
"The reason why spoonbills visit Jeju is because it is a unique place in the world because of its volcanic rocks and wetlands," Lee explained, adding that "the risk of collision increases due to the breeding and wintering of legal protected species, and if MOLIT creates alternative habitats, the spoonbills may leave for other places due to aircraft noise, so various aspects should be considered."
Professor Choi Chang-yong of Seoul National University's School of Forest Science "Proper bird survey urgently needed...risk factor↑"
Class 1 endangered 'hawk' on Dusanbong, 5 kilometers from Jeju's proposed second airport
Map of Dusanbong, a 'hawk' colony near Jeju's second airport.
Choi Chang-yong, a professor at Seoul National University, was also concerned about aircraft bird strikes at the proposed Jeju Airport 2 site. "We don't know much more about the passage of species such as birds of prey, so we need to consider this risk factor," he said.
"MOLIT's alternative habitats are mainly for ducks, geese, and seagulls," he said, adding, "We need to consider that there may be much more risk factors than that." "It is important to conduct more diverse and accurate bird surveys," he said.
"Migratory bird migration should be thoroughly investigated"
Ji-Nam-Joon Ji, director of theKorea Waterbird Network, also cites the migration of wintering birds to Jeju as one of the factors that raise concerns about bird-aircraft collisions.
A flock of cormorants and their nest captured on Daryodo Island in Bukchon-ri, Jeju-si, in 2022.
"In fact, in 2022, we identified more than 50 pairs of mothers and young herons and their nests on Daryodo Island off the coast of Bukchon-ri, Jocheon-eup, Jeju-si," explains Ji. "In the vicinity of Seongsan Ilchulbong, near the proposed site of the second airport, protected species of cormorants have also been spotted breeding one after another," he says, adding that the uncertainty of bird migration is bound to increase, making it important to conduct bird surveys by local experts and authoritative organizations."
On the coast of Sinsan-ri, Seongsan-eup, at the end of the runway of Airport 2, cormorants and herons can be seen coming and going, and feeding on fish and feed from the outlets of fish farms.
Eating fish from a fish farm near the Airport 2 project site.
"When the birds come in flocks, there are sometimes 100 or more, and they seem to come in large numbers from April to June," explained a fish farm official. He added that MOLIT had suggested alternatives such as installing netting at the outlets of the farms, but that it would be ineffective in combating the birds.
■ International organizations also warn of bird collision risk at Jeju's second airport..."Few success stories of alternative habitats"
How do other countries view the construction of a second airport and bird issues?
KBS reporters asked BirdLife International, a UK-based organization with 25 million members and partners in more than 100 countries, about the location of Jeju's second airport and the status of bird habitats.
The organization responded that it is already aware of the environment in Jeju, including migratory waterfowl rookeries, and that the construction of a second airport in the vicinity would have a serious ecological impact on migratory waterfowl populations such as the Hadori. "The proximity of the proposed second airport to the migratory bird sanctuary will have a very negative impact on migratory birds and aviation safety, and will increase the risk of bird-aircraft collisions," he said.
The MOLIT's alternative habitat proposal is not without controversy with local experts.
"There are few examples of successful alternative habitats in Asia, and even if they are created, they will be much more expensive than protecting existing habitats and will not provide the same biodiversity value."
■ Jeju 2nd Airport, 8 times more bird collisions than Jeju Airport..."Bird collisions are the biggest issue"
MOLIT, Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment Jeju Airport 2 bird collision prediction results.
MOLIT's survey on the predicted bird collision rate for Jeju's second airport is eight times that of the current Jeju Airport. According to experts, MOLIT's proposed alternate habitat and increased bird control personnel are not alternatives to prevent bird approaches.
Meanwhile, the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization also recommends that new airports avoid bird migration routes and bird-preferred areas.
At the time of the consultation on the strategic environmental impact assessment for Airport 2, the Ministry of Environment imposed a condition that bird-aircraft collision alternatives be presented in the next environmental impact assessment process.
Following the MOLIT's response to the Muan Airport tragedy, the ministry said it would look into the bird issue further and come up with a plan with experts for the construction of the new airport. It is expected that bird collisions will be a key issue in the upcoming environmental impact assessment for Jeju's second airport.
