This situation overview provides information on bird strikes and on related events. The information is produced by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom and updated in English annually. In Finnish the information is updated twice a year.
Bird strikes
A bird strike is a collision between an aircraft and a flying animal, most often a bird, but sometimes also a bat. Although most bird strikes do not affect the flight or cause a dangerous situation, in the worst case, a collision can lead to loss of control of the aircraft.
Bird strikes are estimated to cost approximately one billion euros annually around the world, including aircraft damage, repair costs and operational delays. Climate change has seen new bird species move further north, which may increase the risk of bird strikes in the future. In addition, as aircraft become quieter and faster, the ability to detect and avoid birds may be reduced. Bird strike reporting has also improved in recent years, which may contribute to the number of cases detected.
N.B: For most up-to-date information on bird strikes, change language selection to Finnish.
Bird strikes 2025
In 2025, a total of 324 bird strikes were reported in Finland or involving Finnish aircraft. In Finland, 244 cases were reported, which was clearly above the average of the last 10 years and higher than the previous year. From abroad, 80 cases were reported, which was at the level of the long-term average but fewer than in the couple of previous years.
The cases did not cause significant dangerous situations.
In Finland, the majority of strikes were reported from Helsinki-Vantaa, as in previous years. The next most, but clearly fewer than Helsinki-Vantaa, were reported strikes from Kuopio and Tampere-Pirkkala. Also in previous years, these three airports have been at the top of the statistics. Most often, the impacts occurred during approach or landing.
Abroad, the number of bird strikes was approximately at the level of the average of previous years. Strikes occurred fairly evenly around the world; Germany, Estonia, and Turkey were at the top. In the years 2015–2024, strikes have been most reported from Germany, Italy, and Greece. Among airports, Rome, Malaga, Copenhagen, and Gazipasa-Alanya in Turkey were at the top. Last year, Gazipasa, Zurich, and Tallinn were at the top.
According to statistics, in the years 2016–2025, bird strikes occurred in Finland mostly in July–August (abroad in June–July), especially in the morning between 7–8 am. Over half of the strikes occurred during approach or landing, and most often a small-sized bird hit the aircraft. The exact bird species is usually not reported, but most often it has been a swallow or a gull.
Interactive report
Traficom publishes further information on bird strikes in an interactive report which you can access here (External link)(link to Microsoft app.powerbi.com-service) or by clicking on the picture below.
