Dunlop Aircraft Tires US site set to start operation “soon”

London - Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd is set to ship the first batch of tires for retreading to its plant in Macksville, North Carolina, according to the firm.

“We are ready to start shipping tires within the next few weeks, which is on a par with our previous dateline of early 2016,” a company spokesman told ERJ.

The announcement comes following the company’s recent success in receiving the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) approval for its facilities in China and the US.

The FAA-14 CFR Part 145 approval allows operators of US-registered commercial aircraft to use Dunlop’s tire distribution and retreading capability and network.

The plant, according to the spokesman, covers an area of 108,400 square feet and aims to create around 40 jobs.

“One thing I need to stress is that this is a retreading facility and the tires that are made in the UK will be retreaded there. So, we are not offshoring any jobs here,” he added.

The spokesman also added that as customary in the industry, the facility would retread competitors’ casings.