GLOBAL AIRCRAFT TIRES MARKET  

INTRODUCTION

The use of aircraft is integral in modern life. The tires used in aircraft have created an extensive market for themselves. An aircraft tire is a sophisticated, computer-designed, and multi-component product. A variety of materials are used to manufacture aircraft tires. 

The basic raw materials used to manufacture aircraft tires are Steel, fabric, rubber, and chemicals. These tires play a vital role in aircraft performance and therefore it becomes essential to maintain these tires’ performance. The tread patterns on aircraft tires are designed to improve traction and grip in extreme weather conditions.

These tires are manufactured with designs that are capable of carrying heavy loads at high speeds in any configuration whether light or heavy, large or small. The aircraft tire is an integral commodity for aircraft and therefore this market is opportunistic and is vulnerable to modifications and better designs for aircraft.

In this report, we will further dwell upon the various dynamics associated with this market.

GLOBAL AIRCRAFT TIRES MARKET DYNAMICS

Some of the important driving factors of this market can be listed as:

• The growing demand for aircraft for air passenger traffic
• Regular wear and tear of tires.
• Increased flight hours resulting in shorter replacement cycles of tires.
• Increased government investment in the aviation infrastructure.

The limited number of manufacturers may hamper the growth of this market. Also, some strict aviation regulations and the high cost of aviation tires because of high rubber prices may hinder the growth of this market.

Analysis of various aircraft accidents reveals technical faults in tires. FAA thus, addressing the issue has implemented guidelines stating frequent replacement of aircraft tires. This is a prime factor for the expansion of this market in recent times.

By Supplier, the market is segmented as OEM and Aftermarket. Based on product type, bias ply, and radial ply. Radial tires can offer low weight but on the other side is less retread able and therefore can exhibit weaker sidewalls. The radial tires are preferred over cross-ply tires that were used because of their harder and robust construction.

The radial tires, therefore, help reduce operational costs and generate less heat, thus have a longer life. Based on aircraft type, the market is divided into commercial aircraft, military aircraft, and business and general aircraft.

GLOBAL AIRCRAFT TIRES MARKET SIZE AND FORECAST

Geographically, the market is divided into major regions. The major regions are North America, Europe, Middle-East and Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The increasing air traffic in countries like India and China and increased procurement of military aircraft is indicative of growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The relaxation in regulation in the aviation industry and the rise in the number of budget airlines provide a prospective growth outlook in this region. Not only this, taking advantage of poor connectivity of rail transport in countries covered in the Asia-Pacific region, companies are planning to expand their operations in this region.

The United States is the growth region of this market. The North American region is the manufacturing capital of this industry as a huge number of aircraft OEM, tire manufacturers, and raw material suppliers belong to this region. In the forecast period, the European region is expected to have prospective growth in the tire market owing to various aircraft programs. One such program is A320 including the neo variants.

India is a potential market to be exploited by creating more aircraft manufacturing and availability. The increasing defense budget of China and the opening of new manufacturing units for Boeing and Airbus points towards the prospective growth expected in this region during the forecast period.

The marketplace was put to a halt during the pandemic. Since, lockdowns have been lifted and mobility is being restored, the market is returning to pre-Covid functioning capacity.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Based on product type, various opportunities are available to improve the existing designs. Innovations call for improving the durability and maneuverability of tires. Also, minimizing tire weight is an important area to work upon. Michelin and Goodyear’s tires have already a prominent presence in the Commercial and Military aircraft business.

Making tires with such configurations improve fuel efficiency and the longer life of tires. Tire safety has been the prime area of focus for OEM. Various airplane tragedies have made companies work on tire safety. Bridgestone improved its working technology to improve the tire’s durability. 

The high growth in emerging markets and more landings per tire is the opportunistic areas in this market. However, reducing the weight of tires and also accounting for handling the heavy load of aircraft remains a challenge in the marketplace. 

The latest high-performance bias ply aircraft tires come with Inter-tread reinforcing fabric also called ITF. This configuration helps to provide high-speed stability and reduces tread distortion under extreme loads. Companies have been working upon advancements in tire manufacturing technologies like utilization of next-generation materials like Synthetic elastomer rubber and cross-linkable rubber.

To add, the concept of Flying cars / Flying Taxis which is still in the incubation period is paving way for companies like Goodyear to come up with concepts like AERO to attract new customers. These tires have advanced features like multimodal design, magnetic propulsion, optical sensing, non-pneumatic structures, and AI. These trends started by prominent market players motivate the competitive industries and startups to contribute to the global tires market.

COMPANY PROFILE

The prominent companies in the marketplace can be listed as:

• Sentury Tire
• Qingdao Sentury Tire Corporation Limited
• Desser Tire & Rubber Corporation
• Petlas Tire Corporation
• Aviation Tires & Treads
• Bridgestone Corporation
• Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Limited
• Guilin Lanyu Aircraft Tire Development Corporation Limited
• Michelin Group
• The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
• Wilkerson Company Incorporation
• Specialty Tires of America
• KADEX Areo Supply
• Sofema
• Safari Aviation Services
• Martins Industries
• Aircraft Spruce Company