Europe’s largest quiet test building installed at airport

16th October 2019

Cambridge City Airport has invested in Europe’s largest fully-enclosed engine test structure.

The new Ground Running Enclosure (GRE), which is the size of a football pitch,  significantly reduces noise during aircraft ground testing and can accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747-400.

The multi-million pound structure significantly reduces noise impact in the immediate vicinity of the Airport where  owners, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group’s specialist applied engineering work is undertaken on aircraft from across the globe.

Airport Director, Kevan Craske, said:

“It’s a very exciting development for us. This facility gives us great flexibility in terms of the breadth of aircraft it can accommodate, while at the same time ensuring we are living up to our commitment to reduce any potential noise pollution for our neighbours.”

The new GRE is 90m wide and 20m high and enables conditioning of the airflow to the propellers and jet engine intakes. Construction began in May last year by Blast Deflectors, Inc. who are world leaders in solutions for reducing aircraft noise. It will be fully up and running by the end of October.