MD Helicopters has announced orders for 23 MD500/600 series and Explorer helicopters for European and Latin American government agencies and private operators.
Dutch-owned MD Helicopters, recently sold by Boeing, plans to almost double its output of civil machines over the next two years. The Mesa, Arizona-based company says it will deliver 54 helicopters by the end of 1999, increasing to 75 next year and 100 the year after.
New twin-turbine Explorer sales include three to the Lower Saxony police in Germany, two for the UK Police Aviation Services, eight to the Mexican navy and one to the Mexican Televisa broadcasting company.
The first eight-seat machine was delivered to Mexico in May for coastal anti-drug patrols. Aero Asahi will receive Japan's first medical evacuation version in July.
New five-seat MD520N sales comprise two to Fuchs Helicopters of Switzerland and two of the NOTAR-equipped machines to the Belgian Gendarmerie to complement two Explorers.
Other sales include two MD530Fs to the Colombian police, two to the Puerto Rico electricity authority and one MD600N to Panamanian air taxi operator Jupiter Aviation.
Source: Flight International
