Story ID: 345
Daher Expands Helicopter Business with Airbus
By: Guillaume Lecompte-Boinet
Caption: The company opened a faciity in Mexico in August  2017 to support the nearby Airbus Helicopters plant.
Word Count: 286
The helicopter market has become an important segment for the French group Daher. Today it accounts for 20 percent of the business of the group's Aerospace business unit, the company said. Daher is Airbus Helicopters' leading supplier of airframes and, at the same time, its main logistics partner.

Daher mainly manufactures rear fuselages of Airbus rotorcraft, as well as various parts such as avionics bays. Most of these fabrications are made at its plant in Tarbes (southern France). "We are present on all mass-produced Airbus Helicopters [models] and also on R & D programs," noted Nicolas Orance, head of the Aerospace business unit. In addition, as a manufacturer of the TBM aircraft, Daher participates in Airbus Helicopters' strategic planning for the future.

In the area of logistics, Daher in 2015 became the "lead logistics provider" at the four European Airbus Helicopters plants: in Marignane and Dugny (France), Donauwörth (Germany) and Albacete (Spain). Daher began providing Airbus Helicopters logistics in Donauwörth in September 2014. Reinforcing this effort, in August 2017 Daher inaugurateda new industrial and logistics site in Querétaro, Mexico. It supplies the nearby Airbus Helicopters production facility.

The services provided by Daher in Querétaro underscore the breadth of its work, ranging from product and process engineering to industrial services and machining, to transportation and logistics in the supply chain. Daher also manages the spare parts logistics of Airbus Helicopters, an important activity since Airbus Helicopters generates 48 percent of its turnover in aftermarket services.

Today, Airbus Helicopters (Booth N1915) is its sole customer, but Daher is looking at possible expansion of its work in the market. "We have some contact with other manufacturers," Orance said.

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