231 New Orders, Almost Half For EC175

Eurocopter says the recently-concluded Heli-Expo 2008 in Houston, TX was "a tremendous success" for the aircraft manufacturer, with a total of 111 orders for its newly-introduced EC175. The company adds it also booked 120 new orders throughout the rest of its range, a sign of its continued success in extremely active North American and international markets.

Right after having unveiled a full-scale mock-up of its EC175, Eurocopter announced the first two launch customers for the new seven ton class, 16 passenger helicopter. Bristow Group, the largest US oil & gas operator, and Canada's VIH were the first two customers to sign for the EC175.

The official launch customers plus other major operators who decided spontaneously during the show for this new helicopter, brought the total number of commitments towards this brand new aircraft to 111 units. These come from across the globe, including Europe: UTair (Russia), Bond (UK), Dancopter (Denmark), Heli-Union (France), NHV (Belgium); USA (ERA and Halvorson Group); Mexico (Pegaso); Asia-Pacific: Global Vectra (India), HNZ (New-Zealand).

All these customers intend to use the EC175 mainly for offshore oil and gas missions as well as SAR operations.

The majority of the 120 orders concerning the rest of the product range came from customers based in North America -- 90 from US customers, and 28 from Canadian customers, including eight options. These orders included:

• 43 helicopters to be used primarily for emergency evacuation and law enforcement missions;
• 21 helicopters for corporate and VIP use;
• 49 helicopters for various operators active in the tourist and utility sectors;
• 7 helicopters to serve the oil and gas industry.

"I am extremely proud of the success of the EC175 which honestly speaking largely exceeded our expectations in terms of number of customers and units," said Lutz Bertling, President and CEO of Eurocopter. "This success illustrates that the EC175 perfectly complements the current Eurocopter product range and obviously meets market needs. After having reached record orders in 2007, the results that we have achieved at Heli-Expo prove that the market should remain strong in 2008 and that Eurocopter is well placed to significantly benefit from it. With these achievements, we’re confident that Eurocopter will maintain its global leadership position."

As ANN reported, Eurocopter first announced the EC175 at the 2005 Heli-Expo.

FMI: www.eurocopter.com