The center is for the H125 and H135 helicopters operating in West Africa, reported the Moroccan portal of aeronautics Aeronautique.ma.
With the new center, Airbus will expand its network of four service centers on the African continent.
Airbus Helicopters and Heliconia celebrated their long-standing partnership during the 2018 Marrakech Airshow October 24-27, at the RMAF military base in Marrakech.
This year’s airshow expected 300 exhibitors in the aviation industry, and more than 100 international civil and military delegations made the trip to attend the event.
Gerard Franchini, Airbus Helicopters sales manager for Africa, commented on the opening of the new service center, saying, “We are very pleased to extend our collaboration with Heliconia, a maintenance expert, to benefit our customers in West Africa.”
“Being close to our customers is an essential part of Airbus’ strategy for support and services, and thanks to the excellent quality of Heliconia’s equipment and infrastructure, this new service center will be operational immediately,” Franchini added.
Heliconia has been operating in Morocco since 2008 as a helicopter operator and maintenance service provider. The company operates a fleet of Airbus helicopters made up of the H125, H135 and Dauphin for training, offshore missions, emergency medical services, and passenger and VIP transport.
Airbus Helicopters has a global network of 31 sites and more than 100 service centers specializing in maintenance, repair and overhaul.
On October 26, the German thyssenkrupp Aerospace company announced the commissioning of a materials processing and logistics center in Casablanca by the end of 2018.
The aim of the center is to supply the company’s “local customers with the required materials and services,” said Patrick Marous, thyssenkrupp Aerospace CEO.
Morocco has more than 130 aeronautics companies.
According to a recent briefing of the US’s export.gov, “The aerospace industry in Morocco plans to double its capacity and number of operators and create 23,000 new jobs by 2020.”
The briefing noted, “Morocco boasts nearly 11,500 aviation professionals, of whom 50 percent are women.”
