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Major success for Eurocopter at Heli-Expo 2008

Lutz Bertling, president and CEO of Eurocopter unveils the EC175 at Heli-Expo 2008.

Feb. 28, 2008, Houston TX – Eurocopter encountered tremendous success at the world’s most important helicopter exhibition, Heli-Expo 2008 in Houston, with its brand-new EC175, after it lifted the veil off the new 7- ton class helicopter on the first day of the show.

Eurocopter signed intentions to buy with 13 different customers during the 3 days of Heli-Expo for a total of 111 units, confirming the huge demand for such a helicopter. Eurocopter also reached outstanding bookings for the rest of its range with 120 orders, marking 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 of its new 7 ton class, 16 passenger helicopter, marking its official introduction on the market. Bristow Group, the largest U.S oil & gas operator and VIH, a well-known Canadian player in this segment, were the first two customers to sign for the EC175, rapidly followed by many others from all continents. All these customers were overwhelmed by the numerous advantages of the EC175, especially its unique cabin capacity in addition to its range, payload, advanced technology, comfort and operation costs.

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), where excellent market growth has been experienced.

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.

Lutz Bertling, president and CEO of Eurocopter stated at the end of the show: “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. 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.”