French turbine engine makers Turbomeca arrive in Farnborough at an exciting time. First they're in the midst of take-over fever (French engine giant Snecma has put in a bid to current owners Labinal to become the majority shareholder) and second, Turbomeca has won substantial new orders which confirms its position as the world's leading helicopter engine company. Turbomeca's Franþois Courtot (aero-engines vice president) spoke to Geoff Thomas.

Q: What is happening regarding Snecma's proposal to become the majority shareholder of Turbomeca?

"Indeed, we intend to continue as a world leader in our international helicopter engine markets. "Half of the world's civil helicopters now flying have Turbomeca engines and our market share has more than doubled to 45% in the past 15 years a figure which no other engine maker has achieved."

"The aircraft (40 military and 20 civil, powered by the Arrius 2K2 and 2K1 respectively) are destined for South Africa. "Also, Indian manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has ordered a second batch of 52 _TM333 2B2 engines to power _20 additional twin-engined Advanced Light Helicopters_ (ALH). "This engine is the sole production engine used for the Indian ALH helicopter and follows the first order in July 1999 for 30 engines to power the first 12 airframes. The total market is estimated at 300 aircraft in India alone."

"In addition to our existing subsidiaries we will create companies in Japan and South Africa and extend our service network in Australia, the UK and possibly South America. "Our research and development engineers have more than 70 _new versions of existing engines _in the pipeline and we foresee _that servicing will be increasingly important in the coming decades."

Turbomeca has manufactured more than 48,000 engines since its creation 60 years ago 14,000 of them under licence throughout the world. They have accumulated more than 70-million hours of operation and with more than 17,500 turbines in service, Turbomeca currently supplies 1,200 operators in 120 countries around the globe.

They have accumulated more than 70-million hours of operation and with more than 17,500 turbines in service, Turbomeca currently supplies 1,200 operators in 120 countries around the globe.

Source: Flight Daily News