In the backdrop of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India, Airbus Helicopters has announced that it is partnering with the Tata Group to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for civil helicopters in the country, making it India’s first helicopter assembly facility in the private sector. Under this partnership, the FAL will produce Airbus’ best-selling H125 single-engine civil helicopter for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries, the company said.
Under this partnership, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a subsidiary of Tata Group, will set up the facility along with Airbus Helicopters. Airbus and Tata are already setting up a FAL in Vadodara for the C-295 military transport aircraft as part of a contract to supply 56 aircraft to the Indian Air Force.
The announcement was made during the two-day visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India as Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.
“The FAL in India will undertake the integration of the major component assemblies, avionics and mission systems, installation of electrical harnesses, hydraulic circuits, flight controls, dynamic components, fuel system and the engine,” Airbus said in a statement. “It will also do testing, qualification, and delivery of the H125 to customers in India and the region.”
The FAL will take 24 months to set up and deliveries of the first ‘Made in India’ H125s are expected to commence in 2026, it stated. “The location of the FAL will be jointly decided by Airbus and the Tata Group.”
The H125 is the world’s best-selling single-engine helicopter that outclasses other helicopters in its category, according to Airbus and is a member of Airbus’ Ecureuil family, which has accumulated more than 38 million flight hours worldwide. It can operate in high-and-hot and extreme environments and can be easily reconfigured for various missions, including aerial work, firefighting, law enforcement, rescue, air ambulance, passenger transport, and many others, Airbus said. “The H125 is the only helicopter to have landed on Mount Everest, demonstrating its agility in operating in high altitude, extreme environments.”
Airbus currently does $750 million worth of sourcing from India every year to its global supply chain and this expected to go up to $1.5 billion per year by 2026, company officials said.
India’s fast growing aerospace sector has a large requirement for both military and civil helicopters.
