Nigeria, April 19 -- Bird strikes are becoming increasingly disruptive to flight operations in Nigeria's aviation sector, with one recent incident involving an Embraer 190 operated by United Nigeria Airlines as Flight UN0561.

The aircraft, which departed Benin for Abuja at about 4:20 p.m. on 16 April, struck birds shortly after takeoff, damaging part of its nose landing gear. It was withdrawn from service shortly after.

That incident, though handled without injury, marked the third bird strike involving the airline within 48 hours.

A day earlier, on 15 April, the airline's Airbus A320 operating Flight UN0515 from Port Harcourt to Abuja suffered a similar encounter while landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, with damage t...