The Ministry of Transport has decided to expand the list of risk indicators in civil aviation by adding regular bird strikes and damage to aircraft on the ground.

If three or more cases of aircraft damage due to birds or other animals are recorded at an airfield within 60 days, this will be grounds for Rostransnadzor to assess the situation. The second new threshold proposed is two aircraft damages within 180 days.

The reason for tightening control is the increase in reports of bird strikes: from 941 cases in 2022 to 1848 in 2025. In the first five months of 2026, Rosaviatsiya received another 458 reports. However, a single incident will not automatically imply fault on the part of the airport or airline. The Ministry of Transport intends to assess the systematic nature of events and check whether the airfield operator performs the necessary bird protection procedures.

Airlines attribute the deteriorating situation to the work of airport services, equipment condition, and a shortage of specialists. Airports also point to other reasons: residential areas are getting closer to airfields, and garbage containers attract birds. According to airport representatives, municipal authorities should be more actively involved in solving the problem, as some factors are outside the airfields themselves.

The second direction of new inspections is related to aircraft damage during ground handling. The Ministry of Transport proposes to take into account cases caused by the fault of airfield operators, technical and ground services, or carriers.

Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of Avia.ru, believes that about 90% of aircraft damage on the ground occurs due to errors during towing, refueling, baggage loading, and other handling operations. At the same time, airlines often do not take such conflicts to court due to the small amount of damage and the desire to maintain working relationships with airports.