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Noise at the airport is, by and large, generated by aircraft taking off and landing. However, noise can also be generated by engine ground testing. Engine testing is normally carried out after an engine has been repaired/maintained. This is an airworthiness safety requirement. There is no doubt that every passenger travelling onboard an aircraft wishes to be safe and secure in the knowledge that the airline, transporting them to their final journey, has tested the aircraft and its airworthiness to the highest possible standards.
Engine test runs are a normal part of operations at Dublin Airport or indeed any airport. There are two engine test sites at the Airport; one located at the northern boundary of the airport which is indicated by the yellow dot in the image below and the other in the centre of the operational area which is indicated by the red dot in the image below. Current operating practice at Dublin Airport is to achieve a balance between the airlines’ airworthiness requirements and mitigating the noise impact on local communities arising from engine testing at the Airport. In that regard, strict controls govern when engine testing at Dublin Airport can be carried out. There is a total ban on tests between the hours of 23.00 and 06.00. There are also restrictions as to where on the airfield the tests can be carried out with no engine testing permitted on the northern site before 09.00 and after 20.00.
In addition strict guidelines at Dublin Airport permit only one aircraft at a time to test its engines.
Every engine test carried out at Dublin Airport is recorded by the Airside Duty Manager and the Airside Management Unit with a reference number, date, starting time, aircraft operator, aircraft registration, aircraft type, agency providing maintenance, repair and overhaul of the aircraft, finishing time, duration, location and who approved the test run.
All complaints regarding engine testing are fully
investigated. The number of complaints regarding engine ground testing
has diminished substantially following the decommissioning of the older and
noisier B737-200 aircraft used by Irish based airlines at Dublin
Airport. Previously the vast majority of engine ground testing complaints
related to this aircraft.
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