The fuel consumption of future civil aircraft needs to be reduced because of the CO 2 restrictions declared by the European Union. A consequent lightweight design and a new engine concept called counter-rotating open rotor (CROR) are seen as key technologies in the attempt to reach this ambitious goals. Bearing in mind that CROR engines emit very high sound pressures at low frequencies and that lightweight structures have a poor transmission loss in the lower frequency range, these key technologies raise new questions in regard to acoustic passenger comfort. One of the promising solutions for the reduction of sound pressure levels inside the aircraft cabin are active sound and vibration systems. So far, active concepts have rarely been investigated for a CROR pressure excitation on complex airframe structures. Hence, the preliminary study presented in this paper shows how an active control system can influence the sound radiation of a complex airframe structure under a CROR pressure excitation and also addresses the open questions on the way towards its realisation. In this phase, an active feedforward control system is investigated in a fully equipped Dornier 728 experimental prototype aircraft. In particular, the sound transmission through