18 Nov Contacta Hearing Loops reach the Arctic Circle

When the new international airport opens in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, in November 2024, there will be a clear welcome for passengers with hearing loss.

Contacta hearing loops have been installed at passport control, boarding gates and arrival and departure halls by our Danish partners, Schmidts Radio.

“We are thrilled to be part of such a landmark project,” said Schmidt’s Radio General Manager, Stefan Marcher Schmidt.

Thanks to a new longer runway, the airport will enable large planes to fly into the town for the first time.  Currently, access is only via a 35 seat propellor aircraft from the former military airport, 200 miles north at Kangerlussuaq.

From 28 November 2024, direct flights to Nuuk will operate fromCopenhagen.  The airport’s new terminal building will also welcome United Airlines passengers direct from New York in summer 2025.

Stefan and his team had been involved with the Nuuk Airport project from an early stage of specification.  Careful planning of the loop locations was completed based on review of the airport structure and all audio sources.

The engineers used the Contacta 3D Visualiser to plan the loop layouts for the gates and arrival area, in order to specify the cable and drivers they needed.

During their first visit to the Nuuk airport construction site, the engineers were able to install the loopcabling ahead of floor tiles going down.

They used a phased array layout for the hearing loop in the arrival area, powered by one of our flagship V34a PRO dual output hearing loop drivers.

“This layout means there is a good signal strength along the entire length of the hall,” said Stefan.  “With the guided set-up built into these drivers, configuration of the driver with the pre-installed loop cables was fast and simple.”

Perimeter loops were used in the smaller departure areas, powered by Contacta V15 and V22 hearing loop drivers.  Using the built-in AGC and integral high pass filter, the team were able to make precise adjustments to ensure high quality sound for passengers in line with the recognised IEC 60118-4 standard.

Signage lets visitors with T-coil enabled hearing devices know where hearing loops have been installed and are available to use.