Three Companies Sign Deals At Aero India 2011
The acquisition by three Indian companies of a total of five
AS350 B3 helicopters was announced late last week by Eurocopter and
its Eurocopter India subsidiary at the Aero India 2011 exhibition
in Bangalore.
Three of the rotary-wing aircraft were ordered by Global Vectra,
whose fleet will grow to seven AS350 B3s; while Summit Aviation and
SS Aviation each purchased one. All five are scheduled to be
delivered during 2011. “The AS350 B3 has become the
single-engine helicopter of choice for major Indian operators, who
are increasingly adopting it for their fleets,” said
Eurocopter President & CEO Lutz Bertling. “Seeing this
trend, we are confident the AS350 B3 will be instrumental in
developing such segments as heli-tourism, passenger transportation,
rescue, aerial work and law enforcement throughout the
country.”
The AS350 B3 has experienced major success in heli-skiing
applications at such locations as the Alps in Europe, North
America’s Rocky Mountains and Alaska, and the Andes in South
America – with operations now extended to the Himalayas in
India. “Heli-skiing is a sport that requires high level of
aircraft safety, robustness and capability to function immaculately
in extremely high altitude conditions,” explained Neeraj
Bhatia, the Managing Director of Summit Aviation. “The AS350
B3 was our choice for such duties at Gulmarg, Kashmir, where it is
taking on the most challenging tasks with ease, and demonstrating
incredible performance.”
Global Vectra AS350B
The AS350 B3 also has redefined pilgrim tourism in India, and is
flying tourists to places like Vaishno Devi, Kedarnath, Badrinath
and Amarnath. It is successfully used by numerous operators for
corporate transportation, and has become the backbone of
India’s geophysical surveys. Five AS350 B3s are in operation
to support the country’s geophysical survey activity, with
four of them flown by Global Vectra – the first operator
using this helicopter type in India for such missions.
Most recently, Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited equipped an AS350
B3 with cameras and relay equipment for TV broadcasts during the
recent Commonwealth Games, an Indian first. The SS Aviation
contract announced today at Aero India 2011 makes this operator a
new Eurocopter customer, with the AS350 B3 becoming the first
helicopter in its fleet. “There is an increasing demand in
the rural areas of Karnataka for air transport services, so the
purchase of a helicopter makes sense to cater to this growing
demand,” stated H. I. Mahesh, the CEO of SS Aviation.