Amid the higher-profile agreements covering commercial airliners signed on 26 March by Airbus and its Chinese partners, France’s rotorcraft industry was also busy with its Beijing counterparts.
Airbus Helicopters used the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping to Paris to announce a pact with Avicopter covering the production of a total of 1,000 of the manufacturers’ respective EC175 and AC352 models.
Based on the same Avicopter-produced airframe, the two helicopters differ in terms of engines, avionics and other systems.
The AC352 is destined predominantly for the Chinese market, while Airbus Helicopters has a more global focus for its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C-powered EC175.
Airbus Helicopters says the new agreement “cements the industrial partnership” between the pair and “sets the stage for an unprecedented full-scale production framework”.
Meanwhile Safran unit Turbomeca, which is working with AVIC Engine to supply WZ16/Ardiden 3C turboshafts to power the AC352, has confirmed an initial order of 120 engines from AVIC.
Certification by Chinese aviation authorities is expected at the end of 2015, says Turbomeca.
In addition, the partners have signed a memorandum of understanding covering the joint development of a turboprop engine. However, no details on the size of the prospective powerplant were immediately available.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
