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Eurocopter to set up production line

By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-12-21 14:28

The world's largest helicopter manufacturer, Eurocopter, said yesterday
it intended to establish a production line with Kingwing General Aviation
and CITIC Offshore Helicopter Company (COHC) for one of its most popular
models to take advantage of the fast growing Chinese market.

If the deal goes through, the Shanghai unit will be the second
manufacturing line opened by the EU helicopter-making giant in China,
where the market's need for the machine is growing by 15 to 20 per cent
every year and is expected to become the world's largest over the next
two decades. It opened its first production line in Harbin in the 1980s.

Eurocopter, an affiliate of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company
(EADS), also set up a maintenance centre yesterday in Shanghai,
partnering with local aircraft leasing company Kingwing, a Shenzhen-based
firm.

The maintenance centre was part of the agreement reached in October when
Eurocopter sold two EC-135 helicopters to Kingwing for more than 100
million yuan (US$12.8 million).

The two sides will build an assembly line for EC-135 helicopters in
Shanghai when the time is right, they said.

"We purchased from Eurocopter because of its wide range of products,"
Kingwing's President Wang Bei told China Daily yesterday. Kingwing owns
four helicopters, which are mainly used for rescue and search, VIP
transportation and utility purposes in the city and other areas of the
Yangtze River Delta.

Wang said the two sides have laid a solid foundation for co-operation
since the pair began contacting each other in July, though the
preparation for a new production line may take a long time.

Norbert Ducrot, a senior vice-president for Eurocopter in the
Asia-Pacific region, said yesterday the company viewed China as one of
the most important markets as "the technology is in place (here)."

"Our strategy is to stay as close as possible to our customers to provide
best possible services and the safest aircraft operations," Ducrot said.

Eurocopter and China's only helicopter maker, China Aviation Industry
Corporation II, are developing an advanced helicopter, which is expected
to make its maiden flight in 2009.

Eurocopter is China's largest foreign partner in manufacturing
helicopters and has 50 per cent of the country's civil helicopter market
with roughly 70 copters.

Harbin Aviation Industry Group has seen fruitful co-operation with
Eurocopter since the early 1980s when the company began to produce Z9 and
Z8 helicopters, after purchasing from Eurocopter the production patents
for Dauphin and Super Frelon.

China has roughly 300 aircrafts to embark on tasks for general aviation,
one of the two categories of civil aviation describing any flight other
than a military or scheduled airline flight, compared with 200,000 in the
United States.

It is expected China's demand for helicopters will surge in coming years,
especially when authorities lift restrictions on low latitude flying.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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