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Undertegnede flyr H175 i mai 2014

Airbus Helicopters Sees Bright U.S. Market

While civil helicopter sales are down worldwide with the falling price of oil, Doug Carriger, Airbus Helicopters’ senior director of marketing for North America, sees a resilient U.S. market that is rebounding in key sectors such as EMS and law enforcement, and even showing a few bright spots in the depressed offshore energy market. Carriger said that this has been a strong year on a number of fronts in the U.S., pointing to the success of light twins in the EMS market, an upswing in law enforcement orders, more interest in deploying super-mediums into the Gulf of Mexico to handle restructured offshore energy demand, and more interest in the corporate and private markets. With nearly 900 helicopters flying, “Air medical is the bread and butter of the North American helicopter industry,” Carriger said. “There was a time when we could do a three-aircraft light twin deal over the phone. It’s not like that right now. But this has been the best year in three years for light twins in the U.S. Both the H135 and H145 are doing well.” Police orders are on the upswing, Carriger said. “Our bookings tripled over the last year in law enforcement, a market that is still looking good. It’s our bright spot.” While the energy market is depressed, Carriger also sees opportunity in the Gulf of Mexico. “There is clearly a market opportunity for the [super-medium] H175 where larger aircraft have been serving that mission.”