RH - Rotorhub
Rotorcraft Asia 2019: Safran ready for China’s growth now
Safran is seeing a current demand from China to support its civil helicopter fleets which the engine manufacturer hopes to deliver on through its pending certification in-country.
Safran is expecting that this year will see in Q4 the Chinese certification of the Ardiden 3C/WZ16 engine which is onboard the Avicopter AC352/H175. EASA certification was achieved in Q1 2018 so the anticipation is 18 months later in September 2019 the Chinese aviation authorities will follow suit with certification.
The engine has been jointly developed and built by the company and Dongan and HAPRI of the Aero Engine Corporation of China consortium.
Bruno Bellanger, executive VP of programmes at Safran, told Shephard in February 2019 on the engine: ‘It will be for China the first civil certification of a Chinese engine. It’s a cooperation – the WZ16 is an important target and shows a good cooperation between Europe and China.’
Within the commercial sphere, EMS and public services are currently proving significant to the Chinese helicopter market, Bellanger said.
‘There’s a need inside China for the application of medical services, transport and parapublic [helicopters], I'm not thinking about the future I’m talking about right now.
‘There is a lot of potential for China to grow faster in terms of infrastructure, pilot training group, maintenance crew training and so on,’ he commented.
More from Rotorhub
-
Rotorcraft Asia 2019: Aviation industry explores integration (video)
As Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia 2019 drew to a close, show organisers Experia Events detailed the efforts that aviation authorities are making in ...
-
Rotorcraft Asia 2019: Bucher to the rescue
Bucher is excited about the possibilities that the Chinese market presents for the emergency medical systems that it installs in Airbus Helicopters platforms. EMS is starting ...
-
Unmanned Systems Asia 2019: Embraer X treads carefully
Whilst industry can sometimes be seen to be taking a rather aggressive approach to urban air mobility (UAM), Embraer X, an established business unit of ...
-
Unmanned Systems Asia 2019: Gladius takes a stab at underwater work
Singapore’s Public Utilities Board has been using unmanned systems to conduct subsurface inspections of its network of reservoirs, demonstrating a growing acceptance of such technology ...
-
Unmanned Systems Asia 2019: Urban mobility urged to avert ‘dire’ straits
The successful integration of optionally manned and unmanned systems into urban areas will require sustained collaboration with regulatory bodies in order to prove the safety ...
-
Rotorcraft Asia 2019: Subaru preps for 412EPX
Subaru is well known as a car brand, but it is as a helicopter manufacturer that the Japanese company made its debut at RotorcraftAsia 2019. ...