Bell and Eurocopter divide order
Long-awaited contracts to equip US Customs & Border Protection with new helicopters have been divided between rivals Bell and Eurocopter.
Under a $164 million contract, Bell will supply 25-30 Model 430s to meet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) border-patrol unit's medium twin-turbine helicopter requirement.
Eurocopter, meanwhile, expects to deliver more than 55 EC120 light single-turbine helicopters under a $75 million contract. The EC120s will be completed at Eurocopter's new Columbus, Mississippi manufacturing facility, which opened officially last week. The plant will also assemble AS350s for the US law-enforcement market.
The Bell 430s will be manufactured in Canada and completed in the USA, possibly at Bell subsidiary Edwards & Associates in Bristol, Tennessee, with deliveries beginning in 2006.
Bell says the US Drug Enforcement Agency - another unit of the DHS - has purchased three Model 407 light single-turbine helicopters, a deal which the US company hopes will lead to further orders.
The first 407 to enter the Grand Canyon air tourism market, meanwhile, has entered service with Las Vegas Helicopters, while San Diego, California-based charter operator Corporate Helicopters has begun flying a 430.
Eurocopter has delivered an EC145 to Mexican corporate operator Aeropersonal and an EC155 to US real-estate developer Thomas Enterprises.
Source: Flight International
