SEPANG: Russian Helicopters, a helicopter design and manufacturing company headquartered in Moscow, Russia, is upbeat on securing 15 units of its civilian helicopters sales in Malaysia within the next three years.
Its chief executive officer, Andrey Boginsky said the sales target would be largely fuelled by its light and medium helicopters namely the Ansat and Mi-171A2.
“Malaysia is our well-known traditional partner that has been involved in the purchases of Russian-made military vehicles and machineries.
“We see real interest in the Malaysian market and would like to increase our market share of our helicopters here, while partnering with the local distributor, United Helicopters,” he said during a press conference after officiating the Ansat and Mi-171A2 flight demonstration here, today.
Boginsky said Russian Helicopters has demonstrated two models - the Ansat and Mi-171A2 - during the company’s Southeast Asia (SEA) helicopter tour, and also offers a wide range of helicopters in its fleet, suitable for civil operations such as firefighting department, the Royal Malaysia Police and oil and gas providers and large corporations as well as government agencies.
“Both helicopters models capable to serve all purpose missions including emergency, medical services (EMS), and search and rescue missions,” he said, adding that the company is seeing greater interest for all local customers, and hopes the interest will transform into firm agreements.
Boginsky said Russian Helicopters is also ready to partner with local companies to establish the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, but ruled it should achieve economic efficiency in terms of sales.
“We have 10 (services and repair specialist team) companies in Russia ready to be deployed for all our helicopters customers that need these services,” he said.
Boginsky said the company has signed a contract in China for 20 Ansat helicopters for the Association of Disaster Medicine of China.
He said demand for civilian helicopters in SEA region may hit about 420 helicopters in the next 10 years.
“We are counting on a substantial share of this market, and the results of the demo tour suggest that we have every reason for this.
“SEA is one of the world’s fastest growing industrial and financial regions. The demand for civilian helicopters in the region,” he said.
The company intends to increase its current two per cent market share in the civil helicopters between five per cent and seven per cent in the next five years to seven years in the SEA region.
“Contribution segments are expected to be driven by EMS. Currently, our major business in Malaysia primarily involved in military-transport sector. Our main task is to increase the civil market in Malaysia for our helicopters,” he said.
Russian Helicopters also aims to deliver between 70 and 80 helicopters in SEA region in the next three years.
Russian Helicopters is the rotorcraft designer and manufacturer of the civilian and military helicopters.
The company has delivered over 8,000 helicopters currently operating in over 100 countries.
Russian Helicopters products account for about 90 per cent of the rotorcraft market in Russian, while the remaining 10 per cent derived from the global helicopter sales.
The basic configurations for the Ansat and Mi-171A2 start from U$5 million and U$15 million, respectively.
The Ansat is a light, is a lightweight twin-engine multipurpose helicopter that can be used for the transport of goods and passengers, surveillance, search and rescue, and fire and medical evacuation operations.
It has the largest cabin in its class of helicopters, and the cabin easily and quickly transforms to the configuration necessary. Ansat is certified for use in hot climates. The average operating cost per hour for this model is U$900.
The Mi-171A2 is a mid-class multipurpose helicopter that combines the unique operating experience of Mi-8/17 helicopters with the latest developments of the holding.
It can be used effectively and safely day or night, in high mountains, at low or high temperatures, high humidity and over water. The average operating cost per hour is US$3,500.