£7.5m boost for aero company in ‘testing’ times

A NORTHERN Ireland aerospace company is investing £7.5million in a new testing facility at its site in Banbridge.

Thompson Aero Seating, which makes premium class flatbed seating for global aircraft manufacturers, said the 13,500 sq ft facility will allow it to carry out certification of its new products locally and boost its research and development abilities. It is the first Dynamic Test Facility on the island of Ireland and will remove the need for products to be sent to Europe or the US.

The new facility will feature advanced sled-testing technology, which will enable Thompson’s engineers to reproduce

the dynamic conditions of a full-scale crash event in a controlled environment. Construction has already begun at the site and testing is due to begin in Autumn.

Boss Neil Taggart said: “This is a significant investment by Thompson that will give us enhanced capability for certifying new products for airworthiness and carrying out research and development work locally.”

Invest NI’S Fitch & Ethna Mcnamee with Thompson Aero’s Neil Taggart and Tongyu Xu