Eurocopter,
Eurocopter, a world-leading helicopter manufacturer, today has a presence of more than 650 helicopters flying in the Arab world, be it with civil or military operators.
Partnerships with operators such as Falcon Aviation Services in the UAE ensure that Eurocopter can further capitalize on the growing helicopter operations and service market. Eurocopter's strong Middle East presence across all segments can be witnessed at this year Dubai Helishow, where Eurocopter displays its state-of-the-art products on the B100 stand. Mock-ups of the EC135 and the EC145 in the civil area and a Tiger in the military area are visible.
Eurocopter has the widest fleet of helicopters that can cover all kind of operations, including offshore, emergency medical service, homeland security, corporate transport and military missions.
Growing oil and gas segment
Adapting to the growing demand for oil & gas, the Egyptian Petroleum Air Services (PAS) just signed an agreement to buy a third EC135 Eurocopter helicopter and 2 additional helicopters as options. The EC135 is suited for offshore operation with short distance and small decks. Its low fuel consumption and easy serviceability makes it incomparably reliable and highly efficient to operate. It can fly at all weather conditions.
An ideal helicopter for transporting managerial teams for inspection of the oil rigs is the AS 365 N3 Dauphin helicopter in its corporate configuration with 7 seats.
Offshore duties are the most severe ones for helicopters in terms of reliability, operational availability, and crucial performance parameters, such as high cruising speed, range, payload. Eurocopter offers the widest product line and highest degree of experience in adapting helicopters to the requirements of the oil and gas industry.
Increasing need for Emergency Medical Service helicopters, law enforcement missions and aerial work to ensure the citizen's security:
Emergency Medical Service (EMS) helicopters address the pressing need to save precious time to help in emergency rescue and patient transport to hospitals.
For EMS operations, the EC135 provides a wide cabin with ample unobstructed room for two medical practitioners, two patients on stretchers, necessary life-saving equipment and the crew. The EC135 and 635 are in use namely in Kuwait and Jordan for public security roles like medical operations.
In parallel, the EC145 offers even more space and power, which is why it is gaining a foothold in the EMS and police markets. Meanwhile, both compact helicopters offer reliable performance, quiet flight (below ICAO regulatory level) and a proven safety record.
Police and law enforcement agencies are prime Eurocopter customers in a large number of Middle East countries and the complete range of Eurocopter light twin helicopters from 2 to 4 tons encompassing the Twinstar AS355, BO105, BK117, EC135, EC145 and Dauphin N3 are protecting the population in the Arab world.
As regards to aerial work, training and utility mission like broadcasting or fire fighting, the powerful Ecureuil AS350 B3 (some of them are in operation in the UAE and Jordan) represents an unrivalled versatile platform highly dependable thanks to its availability rate and low maintenance.
Military fleet
Eurocopter's commitment to meet the specific requirements of the Governments and their Armed Forces resulted in many Eurocopter Fennec AS550 C3, EC635, Panther, EC 725, Cougar family and NH90 helicopters being ordered or already in operation in the region. Eurocopter helicopters are equipped with the latest technology that enables them to perform all their missions in the most severe operational environment and critical situations.
The order of 20 NH90 helicopters in Tactical Transport variant by the Royal Air Force of the Sultanate of Oman in 2004 proves the strong capabilities of Eurocopter's and NHI military products for this region. The first NH90 is scheduled for delivery end of 2008.
Corporate needs
Eurocopter is facing a strong demand from the gulf countries, where the needs of transport for VIPs as well as for business executives is growing. The development of tourism and of the various regional visionary development programmes represent excellent platforms for VIP/corporate transport by helicopter.
Eurocopter's offers for the corporate/VIP market can be seen at the fair Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA), that takes place November 16-18 in Dubai. Eurocopter will take part for the first time in this fair.
