Case Study: Airports Company of South Africa achieves reduced bird‑strike risk with Trimble's GPS/GIS wildlife management solution

Airports Company South Africa GIS-enabled Wildlife Management System

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which operates major airports including OR Tambo, faced the costly and dangerous risk of bird strikes but relied on paper notes and a non‑spatial Access database that made wildlife sightings, patrols and vegetation data slow, error‑prone and hard to analyze spatially.

ACSA extended its enterprise GIS in 2004 and deployed Trimble Nomad and Recon handhelds with ESRI ArcPad modules for wildlife counting, patrols and grass monitoring, enabling GPS‑linked data capture. The system produced maps and compliance reports, simplified staff workflows, improved vegetation and patrol decision‑making, revealed trends to reduce bird strike risk, and is being expanded to other airport inspections.

Airports Company of South Africa

Mike Steyn

Company Director