Bridgestone 2008 Annual Report Download - page 22

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manufacturers endeavor to make aircraft lighter, reduce their operating costs, and further
improve their safety. To those ends, in recent years they have increasingly installed radial
tires as standard tments on new models of aircraft. Aircraft radial tires not only contribute
to lower fuel expenses and lower CO2 emissions but also increase the number of landings
before tires need to be changed. As a result, the tires do not need to be changed as often
and operating costs, including maintenance performed by the airline, are reduced. We will
work to increase sales of our leading-edge RRR (Revolutionarily Reinforced Radial) tires
for aircraft to Airbus and Boeing as standard tments on new models of aircraft. Also, as
described in a recent press release made jointly by Bridgestone and the ANA Group, RRR
tires were installed for the rst time on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft because of the tires’
enhanced safety as well as their enhanced fuel efciency stemming from weight savings.
Our aircraft radial tires have been well received by aircraft manufacturers. For example,
our tires are installed on the state-of-the-art Airbus A380 wide-body aircraft. Furthermore,
our tires will be standard equipment on all next-generation Boeing 787 aircraft.
Moreover, retread services are also an essential part of the aircraft tire business, and
Bridgestone can provide comprehensive services extending from new tires to retreads,
all through a global network.
In the past, Bridgestone produced new radial tires for aircraft only at its Kurume Plant.
However, in response to the growth in global demand, we started production of aircraft radial
tires at the Tokyo Plant in August 2008. A project to increase production capacity is now under
way at the Tokyo Plant. The nal phase of the project is scheduled for completion by the end
of 2011. When complete, the project will increase radial aircraft tire production capacity by
about 2.5 times.
INITIATIVES AND PROGRESS OF MTP2008
KEY STRATEGY 1
Aircraft radial tires Motorcycle radial tires
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