Airbus's company logo is pictured at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, in this Dec. 4, 2014 file photo. (Photo : Reuters)
Airbus Group is building an assembly line of commercial helicopters in China, as part of an agreement to sell 100 H135 rotorcraft to a domestic consortium.
The deal is in line with the letter of intent inked last year for the purchase order amounting to 700 million euros or about $788 million. The transaction value, however, "rises to 1 billion euros when support and initial industrial investment are included," Reuters reported.
The consortium comprises of Citic Offshore Helicopter, China Aviation Supplies Holding Co. and Qingdao United General Aviation Industrial Development.
The deal, targeted to be completed within 10 years, is expected to counter the challenges facing Airbus's helicopter business. This arm has been one of the casualties of the global market slowdown in oil and gas, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Airbus also seems to be at the right time to enter China as the country prepares to be the world's largest market for helicopters.
The company is estimating the demand for helicopters in China to be somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 within a span of 20 years.
"With the further opening up of the Chinese skies and the increasing growth in the civil and parapublic segments, China is gearing up to be the biggest market for helicopters in years to come," said Norbert Ducrot, head of Airbus Helicopters China and North Asia region, in a press release.
"With their inherent versatility and reliability, these 100 H135s will be best suited to meet the soaring demand in China," Ducrot added.
The H135 is a familiar aircraft in China. It can be seen in different parapublic operations across the country, including patrol command, search and rescue, law enforcement and firefighting.
Overall, about 1,200 H135s have been delivered to different clients, logging in more than three million flight hours, according Airbus's latest numbers.
