Ferrets to be ‘employed’ at Castellon Airport

MORE than €450,000 has been set aside by Castellon Airport for falcons and ferrets to control animals and birds which could endanger flights.

The €150 million airport already attracted widespread criticism after it being inaugurated in March despite not having the necessary paperwork to allow any planes to fly into or out of it.

The airport has put the animal control plans out to public tender with three years to carry out considering it essential that a system to control the presence of animals and birds be put into place.

Experience at other airports has shown that the use of trained falcons keeps down the number of birds around the runways, but this is a specialized service for which the airport has no qualified staff. Therefore they require a company specializing in catching and controlling birds and animals at the facilities every day of the year.

For animals on land, at least eight ferrets would be used, and a minimum of eight falcons for birds, all of which would have to be handled by experienced professionals.

The aim is to keep them away from any areas which pose a danger to aircraft or the facilities, and they would be used before flights began and during the day for at least six hours.