The 400th Eurocopter to be delivered into the Canadian market was turned over to Great Slave Helicopters (www.greatslaveheli.com) in a ceremony held at Eurocopter Canada’s Fort Erie, ON facility today. With 64 rotorcraft in its fleet Yellowknife, NT based Great Slave Helicopters is one of Northern Canada’s largest commercial helicopter operators.
It has taken delivery of a new Eurocopter EC130B4 for use by its group of companies across Canada. Great Slave Helicopters serves the oil & gas exploration, diamond mining, forestry, fire fighting, and construction industries in Canada’s Western Arctic.
“This is the first EC130 we have bought to fly in the western Arctic, but not our first Eurocopter,” says Adam Bembridge, President of Great Slave Helicopters. “We are currently flying the full range of A-Star 350s and an EC120, and have five Eurocopter helicopters on order with an option to buy six more.”
With room for a pilot and 6/7 passengers, the EC130B4 is a light helicopter powered by a Turbomeca ARRIEL 2B1 turbine engine with a dual channel digital engine control system (FADEC). It offers a comfort-enhancing low noise external emission profile 8.5dB below the ICAO requirement thanks to the EC130’s shrouded Fenestron tail rotor.
“We buy Eurocopters for one reason: Our customers demand them,” Bembridge explains. “They like the spacious cabins, the front-facing seats, the great visibility, and the quiet that Eurocopters provide in flight. As well, the proven safety of the Eurocopter product, their reliability, and the support we get from Eurocopter Canada for our current rotorcraft were all factors in convincing us to buy these new aircraft.”
“Flying commercially in the Western Arctic is not for the faint-of-heart,” he adds. “That’s why we rely on Eurocopter products to do the job for us, and why we are enhancing our fleet by adding more of them.”
“It was only two years ago that we celebrated Eurocopter Canada’s 20th anniversary in Canada, and the fact that we had delivered 340 rotorcraft here,” says Edouard Gaillat, President of Eurocopter Canada Limited. “Over the last five years, 76% of all new Canadian single engine turbine helicopters purchased have been Eurocopters. This represents 27% of the current turbine helicopter fleet in Canada, and we expect this percentage to continue to climb; thanks to our new generation EC120 and EC130B4 single engine rotorcraft, and our EC135 and EC145 twin engine helicopters.”
Eurocopter Canada Limited (www.eurocopter.ca) is a subsidiary of Eurocopter. Eurocopter Canada is based in Fort Erie and is currently providing full customer service for all 400 Eurocopter helicopters in Canada, with parts distribution centres conveniently located in Fort Erie, Montreal, and Richmond (BC). Eurocopter is the world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, the world’s No. 1 helicopter manufacturer. In 2005 Eurocopter generated revenues of 3.21 billion and employed a workforce of 12,500 worldwide. The company offers the broadest range of helicopters in the industry. More than 9,500 Eurocopter helicopters are in service in 139 countries with 2,500 customers.
Eurocopter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2005, EADS generated revenues of 34.2 billion and employed a workforce of about 113,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world’s largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the second-largest missile producer in the global market. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
