While most of Airbus Helicopters’ fleet in Thailand is operated by the government, the manufacturer hopes to develop other helicopter sectors in the country, such as among civil and corporate clients.

Airbus Helicopters says it has 68 aircraft in the Thai market, which is nearly 20% of the helicopter fleet in Thailand. Airbus Helicopters Thailand managing director Pierre Andre says this figure is “quite significant”.

On top of growing sales in other non-governmental sectors in Thailand, Andre adds that he is hopeful Airbus Helicopters will “secure the same pace of growth [in the next 10 years] as we did in the past 10 years”.

Airbus Helicopters has delivered 68 aircraft to its Thai clients — including the Thai government and military, the police force, as well as emergency medical services — over the past 10 years, since it was established in 2008.

Its helicopter MRO facility, located in the outskirts of Bangkok, is among the 7 Airbus Helicopter MRO facilities in the Asia-Pacific region. The others include its regional hub in Subang, Malaysia, Kobe in Japan, as well as Clark in the Philippines.

Airbus Helicopters is also the only helicopter manufacturer to have an MRO facility in Thailand.

The 800sqm hangar services nearly the entire Airbus Helicopter aircraft range, from its H125 to the H225M, and caters for the fleet in Thailand, as well as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Andre adds that the Thai market makes up the bulk of the fleet in the four countries, which total more than 80 aircraft.

Airbus Helicopters Thailand has also entered into a partnership with Thai Aviation Industries (TAI), a Thai-owned MRO centre, in 2018. TAI will support all Airbus' military and law enforcement helicopters in Thailand, for a period of two years.

Andre adds that Airbus Helicopter Thailand is also looking into growing capabilities with TAI in the future.

Source: Cirium Dashboard

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