The ground-breaking ceremony for the first final assembly line for helicopters in the private sector being jointly developed by French aerospace major Airbus and Tata Group will take place before the end of this year. Eight sites have been shortlisted for the facility so far.

The Indian final assembly line for Airbus H125 helicopters will only be the third such FAL outside France’s Marignane, which is the helicopter manufacturing hub as well as headquarters of the helicopter division of Airbus. The other two H125 FALs are in Brazil and the U.S.

The Indian facility will deliver its first helicopter in 2026. It will be capable of delivering 10 helicopters annually, which is a capacity comparable to the FALs in Brazil (5 to 10 helicopters annually) and the U.S. (20 helicopters annually).

“India is the market of the future for helicopters. Our ambition is to be part of this transformation,” Olivier Michalon, Executive Vice President, Global Business, Airbus Helicopters, told a media contingent from India. Airbus forecasts that there will be a demand for 500 H125 helicopters in India and neighbouring countries over the next 20 years.

The tie-up between Airbus and Tata Aerospace Services Limited for setting up the FAL was announced in January during the two-day visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India as Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations. This is the second jointly developed FAL for the two groups after the one for military transport aircraft C295 being set up in Vadodara.

The H125 is considered the market leader in the intermediate single-engine helicopter category, where it achieved a market share of 63% in 2022. There are around 7,200 H125s flying globally, covering various missions, including aerial work, firefighting, law enforcement, rescue, air ambulance and passenger transport.

“The H125 is our A320,” Mr. Michalon said, referring to the popular single-aisle aircraft family.

Speaking about the criteria for selecting the site for the FAL, the Executive VP said, “We want to be attractive for our employees. We want to be an ecosystem for both an industrial activity, logistics, employees. And of course, we want to be able to test fly.”

Sourcing

Experts from the Marignane facility will be co-located at the Indian FAL to help set it up.

“The goal is for it to be an Indian company, not a European expatriate company. But at the beginning, we will need to accompany to train until the organisation is able to fly solo,” Mr. Michalon said.

The H125’s engine and gearbox will come from France, the main airframe from Germany, and the tail boom from Spain, officials said. Airbus has decided to keep the list price of the H125 helicopters assembled in India the same as those assembled elsewhere. A basic model of a H125 helicopter could cost around €3.2 million.

“The H125 produced in India will already be certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency which means that the safety, quality assurance will be of Airbus Helicopters. So, the H125 produced in India is the same as those produced here (Marignane) or elsewhere,” said Sunny Guglani, Head of Airbus Helicopters in India and South Asia.

There are nearly 250 civil helicopters in India. Of these, nearly 100 are Airbus helicopters, with the majority of them being H125 and H130s.

On the regulatory challenges, the top executive said, “They are a bit restrictive, but we are working as if those regulations were going to ease and the skies going to open progressively.”

[The journalist was in Marignane on the invitation of Airbus]