Last week, Airbus Helicopter announced 381 orders in 2018 for its helicopters. A raise in sales, despite an environment that faces development difficulties.
Airbus Helicooter said they kept their leadership regarding civil and para-public segment while they grew over military one. In the other hand,the number of deliveries decrease from 409 in 2017 to 358 in 2018.
Airbus recorded 15 commands for its last helicopter, the H160 made with composite materials. H160 first deliveries are planned for 2019 as maiden flight was last December.
End of 2018, Airbus Helicopter's backlog of orders is about 717 against 692 previous year. This raise is mainly due to deliveries decline in 2018. As reminder, Airbus had an objective of 400 deliveries which they failed to achieve.
The helicopter manufacturer said that he doesn't see actually any improvement coming from the petrol sector.
"Our commercial performance in 2018 is proof that Airbus still want to perform and develop its activity even in a difficult environment. Even if civil and para-public market keep a low-level of activity, we kept a leader position thanks to a large and modern service and product proposition. In the same time we grew our military market segment and won important contract with air forces worldwide" said Bruno Even, who is, since April 2018, new Airbus Helicopter leader.
Airbus Helicopter also recorded 148 command for H135/H145. And said their Helicopter market share is 54% far away from Bell and Leonardo.
Surfeo: www.surfeo.eu