Eurocopter keeps on expanding in the United Kingdom

Eurocopter and its British subsidiary, Eurocopter UK Ltd., emphasize their strong position in the UK market at Helitech 2009. 

The company exhibits the EC135 “L’Hélicoptère par Hermès” as centre piece, as well as a large array of eight state-of-the-art helicopters: a London “Met” EC145, an EC135 by Suffolk Police, the UK’s first helicopter - an EC135 - dedicated to offshore wind farm maintenance, a utility AS355 NP used by National Grid for powerline inspections, and Eurocopter’s latest generation of private/VIP and corporate helicopters – an EC120, EC130, and EC155 B1. 

An AS350 BB of the Defence Helicopter Flying School and a SA330 EA Royal Air Force Puma HC Mk1 complete the line-up. Eurocopter UK’s rapid expansion into the defence business, oil & gas service activities and upgrades & retrofit business leads to further growth in the British Isles.

Markus Steinke, Managing Director of EC UK, commented: “Being at home in the UK, with the biggest helicopter fleet in the British Isles, delivering a vital contribution to the UK nation and its citizens each day, we are committed to serving our customers locally and thus have expanded our onshore capabilities significantly in the last two years. In addition, we started to export Eurocopter solutions made in the UK into the rest of the world. Further investments are launched and will increase our industrial presence even more.”

Today, Eurocopter products constitute the biggest helicopter fleet in the UK totalling 450 helicopters with over 130 customers . Its products are vital for the functioning of the country as they represent 70% of the UK EMS (Emergency Medical Service) fleet, 75% of the police and law enforcement fleet and around 80% of the offshore oil & gas fleet. 

Furthermore, they are widely used for pipeline and power line control, as well as for light house maintenance and other important utility missions across the UK. Eurocopter’s EC135 will be the UK’s first helicopter to establish offshore wind farm support. Last but not least, 100 Eurocopter helicopters provide significant transport and training capability to the UK military forces.

2008 saw the expansion of Eurocopter UK’s Oxford Headquarters by 25,000 square feet of industrial surface. In 2009, construction of a 20,000 square feet, purpose-built logistics and training centre in Aberdeen as state-of the art service support for the offshore operators was launched, which will see the arrival of an EC225 simulator in mid-2010. The execution of MoD contracts will trigger further growth of the company’s facilities in Oxford.

Since Eurocopter UK became a fully-owned entity of Eurocopter in November 2007, it has been fully integrated into Eurocopter Groups logistical, industrial and technical supply chain. It has branched out into pilot training with the opening of a Type Rating Training Organization at its Oxford base, certified by the CAA in June 2009.

The logistical services are now further refined offering paperless spares ordering and individual customer performance reviews, as well as on-site support on the RAF base at Benson. 

In addition, its MRO services have now separated maintenance flows for private/corporate customers and police/utility customers guaranteeing quick turn-around times and dedicated expertise for the approx. 60 helicopters returning to Eurocopter UK regularly for maintenance, as well as for any other ad-hoc customer.

Based on its renowned design and customization capability accumulated in more than 30 years of experience, EC UK has become a Eurocopter Design/Completion & Retrofit Centre creating bespoke solutions for all kinds of missions ranging from VIP, police, fire fighting, EMS and utility to military applications. 

To date, individual customizations and retrofits have been delivered to customers in 23 countries including the Americas, Middle East, Japan, China, South Africa, Norway, Italy, Spain and most recently to Poland integrating an state-of-the-art TV/news gathering suite into a corporate EC135 maintaining the multipurpose character of the helicopter.