Dunlop Safely Lands Quartet of Contracts

Coventry-based Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems has won contracts worth pounds 1.5 million to support four airlines with spares and support services.

Under the latest deals China Xinjiang Airlines, a subsidiary of China Southern Airlines, Aero Airlines of Estonia, a subsidiary of Fin-nair, and Taiwan’s Trans Asia Airways have all selected the Meggitt group company to provide ongoing support for a total of 19 aircraft.

A fourth undisclosed airline has also signed up.

All involve supplying ATR 72 planes.

Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems is the original equipment manufacturer for wheels and brakes on the French-built regional turboprop, producing market-leading carbon brakes for the aircraft.

"These have proven to be highly reliable and offer the lowest cost of ownership for operators," the firm noted.

"The company continues to invest in research and development to further enhance its ATR 72 wheels and brakes and further improvements are due later this year. These will include an advanced anti-oxidation system which will offer significant performance improvements."

Ben van Sleeuwen, head of aftermarket business development, said: "Naturally, we are delighted to have secured these contracts to maintain the wheels and brakes across four fleets of ATR 72 aircraft.

"We are committed to this market and continue to invest heavily in ensuring that our solutions offer the highest levels of reliability and performance."

The ATR 72 is built by Avions de Transport Regional, a joint venture between EADS and Alenia, based in Toulouse, France.

Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems has an annual turnover of pounds 75 million and employs more than 900 people worldwide.

Meggitt has formed a Sensing Systems division by merging the Aerospace Systems and Meggitt Electronics operations into a single entity, but did not provide details on costs or any job cuts.

Chief executive Terry Twigger said: "By joining forces, they (Electronics and Aerospace) will create the pre-eminent group in this field in the world with manufacturing and engineering capability on three continents, unparalleled technical resources, leading positions in our key markets, and a much stronger marketing capability."

(c) 2007 Birmingham Post; Birmingham (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.