Bird Strike Coating Wins Jeju Airport Contract in Korea

BUSAN, South Korea - Korea Airports Corporation awarded a contract worth about 500 million won in June 2026 to Bird Strike Safe Co., Ltd., a South Korean materials company, to coat Jeju International Airport structures with an additive that birds can see.

U.S. civil aircraft reported 22,372 wildlife strikes in 2024, 14% more than in 2023, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's 2025 report on wildlife strikes to civil aircraft. Wildlife destroyed two aircraft that year. Birds account for about 97% of strike events, and the FAA database has logged more than 313,000 U.S. strikes since 1990. The FAA links the recent rise partly to growing bird populations and to quieter turbofan engines, which give birds less warning that an aircraft is approaching.

Reporting to the database is voluntary, which means the totals understate the number of strikes. Since 2009, airports have put more than $400 million into wildlife management projects and the FAA has directed $30 million toward detection and avoidance research. Acoustic deterrents, radar and trapping all work by moving birds away or tracking where they are. None of them changes what a bird sees as it approaches a noise barrier or a turbine blade.

USC is a bio-based functional additive that Bird Strike Safe blends into specialty coatings, films and visual marking products. The additive changes how a treated surface registers in a bird's visual field, so the bird recognizes the structure as an obstacle and turns away in time. Bird behavior and visual recognition drive the effect. One additive covers aircraft exterior coatings, runway-side structures, wind turbine blades, highway noise barriers and architectural glass.

A three-year field demonstration on South Korean highway noise barriers compared treated and untreated sections. Treated sections recorded fewer bird collisions. In aviation, the company has run evaluations on actual aircraft exterior materials, completed airport application studies and finished unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) testing.

South Korea's Public Procurement Service has designated the technology an Innovative Product, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has issued a commendation. The company is registered with the United Nations Global Marketplace and holds intellectual property covering USC in South Korea and abroad. Bird Strike Safe plans to extend USC into wind energy, railways, ports and smart city infrastructure.

The FAA requires certificated U.S. airports to act on wildlife hazards under 14 CFR 139.337, and U.S. mitigation spending has concentrated on radar, forecasting and lighting. USC treats the structure itself.

The Jeju International Airport project applies USC-based specialty coatings to selected airport facilities under the Korea Airports Corporation contract.

Bird Strike Safe Co., Ltd. is a South Korean biomaterials company that develops USC, a bio-based functional additive used in specialty coatings, films and visual marking products that make structures visible to birds. Its materials serve aviation, wind energy, transport and urban infrastructure, where bird collisions carry operational and environmental cost.

South Korea's Public Procurement Service has designated the technology an Innovative Product, and the company is registered with the United Nations Global Marketplace. Bird Strike Safe holds intellectual property covering USC in South Korea and abroad, has run a three-year highway demonstration of the material and in June 2026 signed a contract worth about 500 million won with Korea Airports Corporation to treat facilities at Jeju International Airport.

Media Contact

Yong-Kook Kwon
Bird Strike Safe Co., Ltd.
birdstrikesafe@gmail.com