Kopter to build helicopters in Louisiana
Half of deliveries expected to US
The U.S. market is very important to new Swiss helicopter manufacturer Kopter Group, which just delivered the third prototype of its single-engine, large-cabin Kopter SH09 to Sicily, Italy, for certification testing. How important? Important enough that the company has been searching for a location in the United States to build the new helicopter, as well as to provide logistical support.
The United States is the biggest market for single-engine helicopters, said Andreas Löwenstein, Kopter Group’s chief executive officer, adding that he expects more than 50 percent of annual SH09 production in the coming decade will be sold in the United States. “We have already obtained 25 orders in the United States, and that indicates to me that the reception in the U.S. is great.”
“We’re going to see a tremendous boost in aerospace with 120 new direct jobs,” and about 300 indirect jobs, said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who anticipates production of 100 SH09s per year by 2025. The state will prepare workers for the new plant with its established Louisiana Economic Development FastStart training program.
“The building is standing and well outfitted,” Löwenstein added. The 84,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility was originally constructed to house assembly of the Bell 505, another single-engine turbine helicopter that is now being produced in Canada.
Three Kopter SH09s will be operating from Sicily for certification flight tests. The company’s goal is to achieve certification in the second quarter of 2020. “We call it the flying Swiss pocket knife, because it fulfills all the missions,” Löwenstein said.
