References - AeroCircular

AeroCircular

Aerocircular builds hangar for sustainably dismantling planes

Belgian company Aerocircular is a specialist in the sustainable disassembly of commercial planes. As a startup, the company was looking for a building at the Ostend Airport that would be suited to their operations. It would all need to correspond to Aerocircular’s circular vision. A steel-structured fabric building from Best-Hall met all of their requirements.

Aerocircular sustainably disassembles commercial planes – decommissioned aircraft between 15 to 20 years old – at the end of their service life. After disassembly, any pieces that can be reused, such as electronic components or certain stationary parts, serve as replacement parts for the active fleet. The remainder are reused as efficiently and profitably as possible. The smallest cables, screws or pieces of fabric are given a new lease of life. Up to 600 tonnes of CO₂ can be saved for every plane disassembled.

“As this approach differs from the traditional method of dismantling planes where everything is reduced to scrap metal, we needed a covered structure in which to conduct our operations. Each dismantled part is reused, so the entirety of the disassembly process needs to take place indoors. In addition, we wanted the building to match up to our circular vision,” explains Koen Staut, CEO of Aerocircular.

An open space with room for two aeroplanes

Aerocircular’s ambition was to take apart around 25 planes each year in its disassembly hangar. To achieve this, they required an open space which would be large enough to accommodate two planes at the same time. After an extensive search for a building that would meet their needs, Koen Staut turned to Best-Hall.

The fabric structure was installed in 2019 over an area of 1.2 hectares. For the concrete foundations, Aerocircular relied on funding from the province of West Flanders. This effectively enabled the company to create new jobs in the region. The disassembly hangar has a surface area of 5,400 square metres and is 17 metres tall, which is more than enough space for two commercial airliners.

A sustainable building for a circular company

“We were looking for a sustainable building that would meet our objective of being a circular company. When the hangar reaches the end of its life, 100% of the steel can be melted down and the fabric that covers the building can also be recycled. Best-Hall is also in a position to provide tracking history for all of the materials used. We are very happy that they were able to build our hangar at Ostend,” adds Koen Staut.

“To cover the hangar, we opted for a semi-transparent fabric that lets us make the most of daylight. In addition, the lighting level in the hangar is adapted to that of natural light to ensure the consistency of the intensity and quality of the lighting. All of this allows us to limit our electricity consumption for lighting,” states a very satisfied Koen Staut.