A commercial airline taking off from Gold Coast Airport last week was forced to halt its departure to allow a an echidna and a turtle to waddle off the runway.

While the airport’s 24/7 animal-free airspace operations are usually on the look-out for bird strikes, the team alerted officials of the echidna and turtle last week, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

According to the airport, both creatures were able to avoid being squashed.

"Bird strikes are one of the highest risks to planes," Avisure’s Martin Ziviani said.

"There are times when an echidna will dig its way to where it wants to be.

"Quite often you'll hear sirens out there or us firing caps to shoo away the birds ... we are trying to reduce the attractiveness of the airport as a habitat."