The carrier Africa World Airlines, from Ghana, faces a surreal problem at one of the airports where it operates, the proliferation of bats during January.
The phenomenon occurs near Kumasi Airport, about 200 km from the capital of the African country, Accra.
Due to the presence of hundreds of bats between 6 pm and 7 pm, Africa World Airlines announced to its customers that it had to make changes to the night flight schedules that operate in the area.
“This is to inform our esteemed customers that our evening flight schedule to and from Kumasi has been modified due to increased bat activity”, said the airline in Twitter.
The carrier, founded in 2010, has a fleet of seven Embraer ERJ 145 jets, configured with 50 seats.
Although birds are the most common cause of problems for aircraft near airports, bats also affect some regions, such as Australia, where there are large flocks between March and April of the “Flying Fox” species.
In the United States, a 2010 survey indicated that most incidents occurred in the states of Arizona and Texas, but that the number was quite modest in relation to collisions with birds.
As in Ghana, most episodes occur between dusk and night, periods when the flying mammal most moves, making it difficult to see.
