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.