China’s first privately owned regional airline has awarded Birmingham, England’s Dunlop Aircraft Tyres (Hall 4 Stand D10) a three-year deal to supply tires for its expanding fleet of regional airliners. Under the agreement, Dunlop will support China Express Airlines’ Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen regional jets.

The Guiyang-based airline operates nine of the 75-seat jets and expects to expand the fleet to 12 by the end of this year and to 30 by 2016. The aircraft operate services to cities including Chongqing, Ganzhou and Guiyang,

Each aircraft uses six tires–two on the nose wheel and four on the main wheels.

“We will provide China Express Airlines with new tires that have been made at our factory in the UK. They will be then distributed from and retreaded at our joint venture facility in Jinjiang, China,” said Ian Edmondson, chairman of Dunlop Aircraft Tyres.

“By making use of our operation in Jinjiang, the airline will be able to return tyres for retreading at a facility that is efficient and that is ideally located for quick and easy shipping to and from its hub airports.”

Dunlop exports more than 80 percent of its UK-made products, largely to operators of Embraer E-Jets. Dunlop has supported E170 and E175 operators for 10 years, starting with LOT Polish Airlines in March 2004. In fact, the majority of E170s and E175s in service use Dunlop tires.

Other notable operators flying with Dunlop tires include Republic Airways, Air Canada, Compass Airlines, EgyptAir Express, Flybe, LOT Polish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Trip.