Airbus Helicopters Sales Head says company "very proud” with Georgian Gov’t choice of purchasing aircraft
Romain Lana, the Regional Sales Manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Airbus Helicopters and the Head of the MIA Border Police, Colonel Nikoloz Sharadze after signing the deal this week. Photo: MIA of Georgia
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Romain Lana, the Regional Sales Manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Airbus Helicopters, on Friday said the French company was “very proud” the Georgian Government had chosen to obtain its aircraft for public service missions in a newly announced deal.
Lana made the comments after Georgia’s Interior Ministry this week revealed it was obtaining three H145 helicopters from the company for tasks including firefighting and mountain rescue across the country.
We are very proud that the Republic of Georgia has put its faith in the five-bladed H145. The landscape of Georgia is challenging, especially in the country’s mountain area. This is why the five-bladed H145 is a good choice for the country. The H145 performs well in high altitude and it is the only twin engine helicopter to have landed on top of the Aconcagua in Argentina, a mountain that is nearly 7,000 metres high", Lana pointed out.
The €26.5 million deal involves the Government saving €5,500,000 by trading in an AS332 Super Puma helicopter, and will also include pilot and engineer training, spare parts supply and a three-year factory warranty.
Photo: MIA of Georgia
The company said the new light twin-engine aircraft would replace the current fleet of Russian-made helicopters for search and rescue, firefighting, medical evacuation and deployment of personnel to inaccessible locations such as mountainous areas of Georgia.
In its summary of the specifications of the model, the company said the H145 added a “new, innovative five-bladed rotor to the multi-mission aircraft, increasing the useful load of the helicopter by 150kg” over its predecessors.
It also noted maintenance of the rotary-wing aircraft was made easier due to its new bearingless rotors, which also improved ride comfort for crew and passengers.
Over 1,600 helicopters of the H145 family are in service worldwide, Airbus Helicopters has said. The company claims the aircraft is "safe and quietest" in its class while its CO2 emissions are "the lowest" among competitors.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has signed a contract with French company Airbus Helicopters on purchase of three H145 helicopters designated for firefighting and mountain rescue, in an agreement that involves a trade-in of a rotary wing aircraft purchased by the former Government but left unused over the years.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday the Government had plans to sell one of the two “luxurious” helicopters bought by the previous United National Movement authorities in 2011 and buy three helicopters “for rescue and other operations” using the money.
Eight people have been confirmed to have been onboard the border police helicopter that crashed in the winter resort town of Gudauri in the north of Georgia on Friday, the Georgian Interior Ministry has said.
The Civil Aviation Agency has granted Wucher Helicopter GmbH the right to carry out flights to Georgian mountainous resorts during the winter season.
The “successful” partnership and “favourable” business environment in Georgia were discussed on Friday between Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Bruno Even, the Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Helicopters, a French helicopter manufacturing company, in a meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing 59th Munich Security Conference, the Government Administration said.