Michelin signs 10-yr deal with Emirates Airlines

New Delhi, Sep 18: Michelin, the world's leading tyre manufacturer, has signed a 10-year deal with Dubai-based Emirates Airlines to equip fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft with radial tyres. The tyres, developed at the Michelin Technology Centre at Ladoux in France, are manufactured at the plant in Bourges, which is the company's worldwide centre of excellence in radial aircraft tyres, it said in a statement.

However, no financial details of the deal were disclosed. To meet the needs of the radial market, the plant will double its production capacity between 2006 and 2012, the statement said. Emirates has ordered 58 A380s, made by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) aircraft manufacturing unit Airbus, and will be the world's largest operator of the double-decker aircraft once it receives them by 2013.

The first A380 was delivered to the airline in July after the programme suffered repeated delays because of problems linked to the wiring.

UNI