Bell Textron is continuing its European expansion with the appointment of a third MRO provider to support its customers there, this one in Germany. The Fort Worth, Texas-based manufacturer of rotorcraft today named Intercopter in Taufkirchen, Germany, as an authorized maintenance center (AMC) in the region. Intercopter joins AMCs in Poland and Denmark—its first two authorized centers in the region.
“We are looking to grow our footprint in Europe and as I’m from the Netherlands I recognize very much that Germany is a very important player here,” Bell managing director for Europe and Russia Duncan Van De Velde told AIN. “We have quite a support network…but that customer base is so spread out over Europe we constantly look for where we need to be.”
AMCs serve as line maintenance stations and augment Bell’s 12 customer service facilities and one company-owned service center in Prague, the latter two of which provide heavy maintenance, as well as parts and component overhaul. Bell also operates a blade repair shop in the UK and a supply center in Amsterdam.
The addition of AMCs in Europe is due in part to support needs for the 505 Jet Ranger X, he said. So far, Bell has delivered 53 of the light single helicopter to European customers. “When we launched the 505 we recognized that many of these customers were new to Bell in and in many cases new to the helicopter environment,” Van De Velde said. “And as they were very spread out over Europe we do want to make sure they get adequate support for these helicopters." Intercopter, however, will not be supporting the 505. Instead, customers were requesting support of the Bell 206 and 407. "We decided to act swiftly and decisively to support their request by appointing Intercopters to support these two types," Van De Velde said. "We currently have no intention to appoint them as a Bell 505 AMC as well but this might change in the future depending on customer demand."
He added that the AMCs also serve to build brand awareness in a region where competitors Airbus and Leonardo call home. “We want to make sure that everybody knows we’re here,” Van De Velde explained.