Goodyear Aviation to Double Radial Tyre Capacity by 1Q 2011
Goodyear Aviation has announced today at the NBAA2010 show in Atlanta that its radial aircraft tyre expansion project will be completed by the first quarter of 2011 – ahead of schedule – which will double the company’s radial tyre production capacity. The radialisation of aircraft tyres is a key economical and ecologically-friendly strategy in the aviation industry’s attempts to burn less fuel per passenger, since radial tyres are lighter than the bias or crossply alternatives. The move towards radialisation in the industry has been slow not just because of the changes required in long-lasting hardware, but also because aircraft tyres are retreaded frequently and crossply tyres provide extra casing strength to allow the process to be completed more times; an issue the UK’s Dunlop Aircraft Tyres chairman Ian Edmondson discussed at length with Tyres & Accessories earlier in the year (see below for a link to this interview).