Dunlop Aircraft close to opening U.S. retread plant

MOCKSVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 19, 2016) — Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd. is close to shipping the first batch of retreaded aircraft tires produced at its plant in Mocksville, the firm said recently.

“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 European Rubber Journal, a United Kingdom-based sister publication of Tire Business.

The announcement follows by a few days the company's recent disclosure that it had received U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) approval for its facilities in the U.S. and China.

The FAA-14 CFR Part 145 approval allows operators of U.S.-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 will provide employment for about 40 workers.

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

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

Birmingham, England-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres announced plans for a U.S. retread plant as far back as September 2014 and disclosed its selection of Mocksville as the preferred site for the plant five months later.

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This report appeared on the website of European Rubber Journal.