Safety: high standards
Safety is the top priority at an international passenger airport. At Munich Airport, both general security (security) and – according to statutory aviation regulations – safe flight operations (safety) are of very high importance. Against the backdrop of increasing traffic figures, Airport Safety focuses in particular on avoiding and minimizing accidents and hazardous situations, as well as identifying systematic risks of error.
Management approach «Safety and security»
Drones – Munich Airport
Safe flight operations: minimizing the risk of accidents
The European Union has set common standards for the planning, operation and maintenance of airports, which we are also obliged to implement. The operating license for Munich Airport is directly linked to the certification issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in December 2017. This is associated with the ongoing obligation to demonstrate compliance with relevant requirements to the supervisory authority responsible for us, the Government of Upper Bavaria, Southern Bavaria Aviation Authority. For this purpose, we operate a Safety Management System. Through this system, we continuously monitor ongoing flight and handling operations with regard to risks and developments in order to derive targeted measures at an early stage. To meet the requirements, we implement structural changes to flight operations-relevant infrastructure or to operational and organizational processes in line with EASA requirements and apply safety risk assessments and compliance audits.
Group Management Report/Risk Report
Flight safety: smart biotope management Summary
Collisions between aircraft and heavyweight birds or flocks of birds can endanger the safety of flight operations. We use a special biotope management to prevent possible collisions:
Grass areas are mowed only twice a year, as tall grass makes it more difficult for birds of prey to hunt. Swarming birds, in turn, avoid these areas because of the lack of visual contact with each other.
The terrain on and around the airport is unattractively designed for bird species that pose a critical risk.
Drainage ditches near the runways are strung with steel cables to make access more difficult for waterfowl. Many taxiway signs and other perching points are equipped with spikes in the runway system to prevent birds of prey relevant to flight safety from perching there.
The wildlife management team at the traffic control department monitors the bird population at the airport grounds and in relevant biotopes within the vicinity in order to ward off potential dangers from bird flight movements at an early stage. If necessary, it takes action to scare away birds.
We maintain close coordination on the prevention of bird strikes with relevant partners and institutions, in particular with airlines, Deutsche Flugsicherung, regional and higher-level authorities, as well as the German Bird Strike Committee (Vogelschlägen im Luftverkehr e. V. – DAVVL). According to statistics from the German Bird Strike Committee, Munich Airport has recorded a comparatively low wildlife strike rate for many years. In 2025, the national average in Area 1 was approximately 13.08 percent higher than at Munich Airport.