Airbus Helicopters Nets 24 Firm Orders in China

Airbus Helicopters inked three major sales agreement in greater China this week, scoring firm orders and options for nearly 115 helicopters over a two-day period.

Hong Kong's Government Flying Service (GFS) placed an order for seven H175s, becoming the launch customer for the 16,500-pound helicopter in a public services configuration. GFS will use these helicopters for search and rescue, EMS, fire-fighting and law enforcement operations, as well as for land and maritime border security patrols. Deliveries will begin late in 2017 with the first three aircraft, followed by the remaining four in 2018.

CM International Financial Leasing Corp. Ltd.—CMIFL, a subsidiary of China Minsheng Investment—is to acquire 100 H125 and H130 Ecureuils over five years, with the initial order of 10 to be delivered in 2016. CMIFL plans to offer the light singles to operators with financing solutions. Its H125s will be configured for multi-role duties, while the H130s are to be outfitted with a new EMS kit developed by Austria-based Air Ambulance Technology (AAT).

The third agreement was signed with HEMS999, an EMS operator, part of the MIT Group. The order is for seven H130s—also fitted with the AAT kit—and deliveries are planned to start late this year. They will be used for road accident EMS in the Shandong province.