Airbus to sell 50 helicopters to China in deal announced during Macron’s visit

Photograph of an Airbus H160 helicopter on display at the Airbus Helicopters factory in Marignane, southern France.(AFP)


Reuters | | Posted by Sreelakshmi B

France-based Airbus said on Friday that it had agreed to sell 50 of its H160 helicopters to the Chinese firm GDAT in a deal announced on the final day of President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to China.

Photograph of an Airbus H160 helicopter on display at the Airbus Helicopters factory in Marignane, southern France.(AFP)

“We are honoured GDAT has decided to bolster their all-Airbus fleet of 26 helicopters with the addition of 50 H160 helicopters,” Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Airbus agreed to build a second Chinese assembly line in the country as domestic travel returned to pre-pandemic levels. Airbus Helicopters on Wednesday posted a 2% rise in deliveries last year to 344 units, cementing its position as the world’s largest commercial helicopter maker as it booked a net total of 362 orders.

Before cancellations, the Airbus subsidiary won 374 gross orders last year, it said in a statement. Airbus Helicopters, whose competitors include Textron subsidiary Bell and AgustaWestland, part of Italy’s Leonardo, said that it had secured 52% of the global civil and parapublic – government-owned or operated services like police and air ambulances – market in 2022.

Airbus Helicopters also confirmed that its helicopter fleet flight hours had returned to pre-COVID 2019 levels. Flight hours drive service revenues that make up almost half of Airbus Helicopters sales.

Cushioned by public services, helicopter demand suffered less from COVID-19 than the grounded airline industry. Airbus Helicopters Chief Executive Bruno Even told Reuters in September that flight hours had reached pre-COVID levels and the number of available second-hand helicopters – a brake on new sales – had fallen.



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