Western helicopter manufacturers have long since recognised the future market in China. Plans to tap into this potentially vast pool of customers centre on joint ventures with Chinese aerospace companies and a long-term approach that recognises this will be no quick and easy 'gravy train'.
On the eve of Asian Aerospace, Sikorsky announced that it will deliver the first two helicopters from its fledgling Shanghai Sikorsky Aircraft venture by the end of this month, when two Shen3A helicopters will arrive with the Civil Aviation University of China. The aircraft will be used for training.
Steady
The news is the latest tentative step in a slow but steady move towards acceptance of Western manufacturers as partners in opening up China's civil aviation market.
Sikorsky secured an equity joint venture with Shanghai Chinese Little Eagle Science and Technology (SLEC) in 2002 and received its business licence in April 2003.
The US manufacturer aims to increase production capacity in China to 24 aircraft per year and Shanghai Sikorsky general manager Chris Jaran says the deliveries of the Shen3As are an early landmark: "These are the first helicopters that were made in Shanghai and delivered to a customer in the Chinese civil market."
While Sikorsky has been establishing this operation, Eurocopter is expanding its partnership with China Aviation Industry Corp II (AVIC II) with an EC120 assembly line in place and talks ongoing to include other other aircraft such as the EC135 and the AS355 Twin Squirrel.
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Eurocopter president Fabrice Br‚gier says: "There is definitely a market in China for light helicopters. The EC135 and the Squirrel have achieved very good market share elsewhere in the world and there is no reason why we cannot achieve this in new markets such as China.
"There are barriers, but they are coming down. Deregulation is one area that is improving and there are issues with training sufficient numbers of pilots. We can bring some knowledge in this area."
MD Helicopters (MDHI) is partnered with Hongdu Aviation in a venture called Jiangxi Hongdu MD Helicopters, while an agreement between Enstrom and Wuhan Helicopter has been bubbling for many years and may soon yield its first Chinese-built aircraft.
Bell Helicopter's links with China are in their infancy, but the cabin for the Bell 430 is manufactured in China by Hafei and this relationship is one Bell would like to expand.
"Our initial goal is get recognition of the Bell name in China," says Max Wiley, executive director Asia-Pacific. "We are doing that through the Textron umbrella, alongside Cessna and Textron Systems. There is a Textron office in Shanghai and another office due to open in Beijing in April."
PAUL DERBY
Source: Flight Daily News
