MD Helicopters Aims at Corporate Market

Explorer's large cabin should hold corporate appear.

Much to everyone's surprise, including the company itself, MD Helicopters sold 10 single-engined helicopters to corporate operators in the UK in the last year alone (eight MD 600Ns, one MD 520N and one MD 500E).

Now it hopes to build on this inroad into the European corporate market in other countries, and with the twin-engined MD Explorer. One owned by Heli-Linth of Switzerland is on display here in the static park.

"The Explorer and MD 600N are ideally suited for the corporate operator in Europe and around the world," MDHI chief executive officer Henk Schaeken told Show News.

"The MD Explorer has proven itself as an excellent utility aircraft with its spacious cabin, but the same versatility and reliability that make it excel in the law enforcement and air medical markets will drive its success in the corporate market, especially so with noise becoming more and more an issue in these markets. As for the MD 600N, the number of corporate ships sold last year speaks for itself."

MD Helicopater CEO Henk Schaeken.

Schaeken noted that two years ago people questioned the company's ability to get back into the helicopter business, "But the message today is 'We are here. We are here to stay. There are no more doubts."

Among last year's milestones was the delivery of 41 aircraft (16 MD Explorers, 11 MD 500Es, seven MD 600Ns, four MD 520Ns, and three MD 530Fs). This year's plan calls for 65-plus. "We delivered fewer last year than we had hoped, in part because customers are putting much more equipment on the aircraft than we had planned, so it took us longer to install it all," Schaeken said.
The last several months have seen MD Helicopters contract out most of the manufacture of its helicopters, leaving it with final assembly and systems integration.

MD Helicopters is here at EBACE on Booth 7016.