Helidax success attracts foreign countries

Hélidax, the first public-private partnership (PPP) launched by the French Ministry of Defense in 2008, exceeded last June 20 000 flight hours on EC120 Colibri aircraft. A subsidiary of DCI and INAER, Helidax achieved this performance in less of 13 months of operation and trained two batches of trainees for the armed forces.

Helidax's example brought the attention abroad. There had been significant interest by countries seduced by the quality and the performance of Helidax as well as DCI's capacity to transfer its military know-how abroad. A new military training school of helicopter pilots will be launched mid-September in Qatar, Doha with DCI, based on the Helidax model. Other countries like Kuwait, Chad, Malaysia and Brazil are also interested in training their crews and by all the services proposed by DCI in terms of maintenance activities.

'Helidax's success, with an aircraft occupancy rate meeting 100% of the school's daily requirements, can be a model for future outsourcing projects in France but also for military or civilian market abroad. The private finance initiative of Helidax proves all the pertinence provided by additional revenues which lower the costs for the ministry of Defense', said Jean-Louis Rotrubin, CEO of DCI and Hélidax. 'We receive many requests from foreign countries. The new training school in Qatar shows DCI's commitment to transfer its military know-how, including for outsourcing. DCI is a service provider fully involved from the beginning to the end of the contract.'

Source: DCI