Dunlop Aircraft tyres marks 100 years

ERJ staff report (DS)

Farnborough, UK -- Dunlop Aircraft Tyres marked 100 years of making aircraft tyres with a party in London last night. The company began making tyres for UK-built aircraft in 1910, when aircraft were very rudimentary.

Since then it has gone through some changes and developments. Three years ago the company was bought by private equity and chairman Ian Edmondson took over. He set out a five-year investment plan involving increased geographic coverage; increased range of products and new technologies.

Half way through that plan, the company has expanded into China and Hong Kong and is considering other areas. In addition DATL has developed a new range of radial tyres to service newer and larger aircraft. It also bought many of the assets of Yokohama's aircraft tyre activities, including radial tyre technology.

Further, DATL is investing heavily, first to ensure its new radial tyres are approved for after-market use on certain strategic airframes, and then to win OE fitment homologation on big-volume fleets, such as the Airbus A320.

Edmondson said DATL is second largest supplier of tyres in the world to regional aircraft, and gaining position in other sectors. He noted that DATL is the only tyre maker in the world dedicated exclusively to the aero sector. The aero sector is worth less than 1 percent of the global tyre market, so full-range tyre suppliers need to balance their other tyre activities against the relatively small aero segment.

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