Facility Will Train Pilots And Service The Russian Eurocopter Fleet

Lutz Bertling, President and CEO of Eurocopter, Jerome Noulens, Managing Director of Eurocopter Vostok, and Andrey Martirosov, CEO of UTair, Russia's largest helicopter operator, Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly develop a flight training center in Tyumen, West Siberia, Russia. This new flight training center will begin operations at the beginning of 2010, and will allow flight crews and technicians to be trained locally in Russia to operate Eurocopter helicopters.

This agreement is a new step in the cooperation that Eurocopter and UTair established several years ago. In 2008, the two companies decided to create an integrated technical maintenance center in Tyumen to support the Eurocopter fleet in Russia. This Eurocopter certified maintenance center will open towards the end of 2009.

“We are glad to further develop the cooperation with our partner UTair within the framework of this flight training center. Both our companies have a long experience in flight training courses for a wide range of helicopters and I am confident that the combination of both our expertise will be highly beneficial for our customers”, said Dr. Lutz Bertling, President and CEO of Eurocopter.

“Acknowledging the utmost importance of flight training in accordance with international standards, we are very proud to participate in the creation of this flight training center for Eurocopter helicopters. This center will facilitate preparation of the qualified personnel not only for our company, but also for the other operators in Russia. We are grateful that Eurocopter chose UTair to be its partner in Russia to establish such a center. We are convinced that our collaboration will be a major step for both companies”, said Andrey Martirosov, general director of UTair.

UTair has been operating Eurocopter helicopters since 2006. Today, the carrier’s fleet comprises light multipurpose helicopters such as AS 350 B3s, AS-355 N and BO-105s. They are used for a wide variety of operations ranging from VIP services, monitoring of oil and gas pipelines, geologic exploration, photo and video footage, cargo fling operations to medical missions.

Starting from 2012, Eurocopter’s new product, the EC175 (Above) will also join UTair’s fleet of helicopters. In 2008, UTair became a launching partner for the EC175 with an order for 15 helicopters, and an option for 15 more.

FMI: www.eurocopter.com