China Helicopter Market ­ Could Be World's Largest

China could prove to be the world's largest market for helicopters over the next two decades.

The country will likely need more than 10,000 helicopters by 2020, with a market value of $84 billion, according to officials at the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation. More conservative estimates put the need at 1,867 civil helicopters by 2013, with a value of $4.9 billion.

China currently has fewer than 100 civil-use helicopters-or 0.06 for every million people compared with the world average of 3.9 helicopters per one million people.

"The enormous potential of the Chinese market for light civil helicopters is self-evident. China's rapidly growing economy will create transportation opportunities for which the helicopter is uniquely suited," says Dean C. Borgman, president of Sikorsky Helicopters. His company plans to manufacture Schweizer light helicopters in China in a joint venture with Shanghai Little Eagle Science & Technology Co. They intend to manufacture at least 20 in the next two years, and to ramp up production to meet demand as China opens its military-controlled airspace for civil use below 2,000 ft.

China's own helicopter industry is just beginning to deliver certified designs-all based on Eurocopter models-for civil use. The Z-8 resembles the Super Frelon, the 14-seat Z-9 the Dauphin 2, and the single-engine, six-seat Z-11 the AS 350 Ecureuil. All will be available in the future with more powerful Turbomeca engines. In addition, China's Harbin Aircraft Industry Group is a 24% partner in the EC 120 with manufacture of the helicopter's fuselage, and Changhe Aircraft Industries Corp., of Jingdezhen, builds the tail section for all Sikorsky S-92s.

Development within the last 15 months in China's budding helicopter market include:

• The sale of the first EC 120 to a Chinese user-Beijing Capital General Aviation Co. at the Ding Royal Tomb Airport in northern Beijing.
• The launch of the country's first air medical service with the acquisition of a Eurocopter for the Beijing EmergencMedical Center. A second helicopter will be delivered this year, and plans call for 10 by 2008.
• Start of helicopter service with a 12-seat S-76 by the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone between Shenzhen airport and Hong Kong and Macao for a one-way fare of $129.
• The first helicopter purchase by a public security bureau. Two EC 135s will be delivered in October to Guangdong's Public Security Bureau to help cope with rising crime in the province.
• Entry into service last December of China's first ship carrying a helicopter for maritime search and rescue operations. It has been assigned two S-76C+ helicopters, and China's Ministry of Communications has options on two more.
• An order from Deer Jet for two Agusta A109 Powers to transfer pilots to ships in Shanghai Harbor. The SAR-equipped helicopters will operate from China's first maritime-rescue heliport at Gaodongzhen, Pudong New Area, Shanghai.
• Delivery of an Agusta A109 Power to the City of Dalian police, with an order for one helicopter.
• Sale of the first corporate EC 135 in China, to Qingdao-based Haier Group, the country's leading electrical appliance manufacturer.
  
• Delivery in late 2000 of the first MD Helicopters aircraft to China-an MD600N to the Guangdong General Aviation Company for utility use in the Pearl River Delta region of China. This was followed this month by the sale of the first Explorer in China.
• An order by China's CITIC Ocean Helicopter Corporation (COHC) for one Agusta A109 Power with options for two more, one EC 135 with options on another three, and three EC 155s. COHC, headquartered in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone just across the border from Hong Kong, is one of the largest commercial helicopter operators in China with a primary business of supporting offshore oil operations in China.
• The sale of at least six Bell SB427 twin engined helicopters-one for Broad Air Conditioning, and five for China's PMGI.
• The order of China's first helicopter for TV news. China Central Television (CCTV) of Jiangxi Province will become the first media group on China's mainland to own its own helicopter for news gathering when it takes delivery of a Z-11 later this year.
• Delivery of four Z-9 helicopters by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group to the Chinese People's Armed Police, kicking off the use of the domestically-made helicopter in non-military sectors.
• An order by Shenzhen Financial Leasing Co for five Z-9 helicopters.
• The sale of a Z-11 to the Chongqing Three Gorges General Aviation Airlines by the Changhe Aircraft Industry Group.
• The first exports of Chinese-made helicopters with the sale late in 2000 of two Z-9 helicopters to the Republic of Mali.
• The sale by Schweizer of four 300CB and one 300C helicopters for delivery in the first half of 2002. Certification of both products by the Chinese CAAC is expected to be completed in April 2002.

Western engine manufacturers are also playing a large role in China's helicopter development. The main players are:

Turbomeca
The license-built Arriel 1 powers the military Z-9s, but negotiations are now under way to produce the more powerful, updated Arriel 2C. China has already put at least 50 flight test hours on a reengined Z-9, and a reengined Z-11 is almost ready for flight.

"I was just astonished at the speed with which they accomplished the work on the Z-9 and got it flying," Turbomeca aero engines VP Francois Courtot told Show News.

Turbomeca is now working on reengining the Z-8 with Makila 2, "which will bring a lot of additional performance," Courtot said. "China is a very important market for us."

In the way that many things in China are not exactly clear, Turbomeca is also discussing power for the China Medium Helicopter/Z-10 utility, transport and attack helicopter for which Pratt & Whitney Canada has already shipped development engines.

Pratt & Whitney
"The Chinese Medium Helicopter will meet an important need in China, and we're bullish that over time it will be a very good program," said P&WC president & CEO Gilles Ouimet. "It is aiming at a market not dissimilar to that of the 15-passenger Bell/Agusta AB139," which Pratt also powers, he added. Agusta has provided much technical assistance on the Chinese Medium Helicopter's rotor and transmission.

Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce signed an agreement at last summer's Paris Air Show to explore powering a twin-engined version of the Z-11. This would use two RR Model 250-C20 engines combined with a Soloy gearbox in a twin-pack that is already marketed for converting the single-engined Eurocopter AS 350 into a twin.

Sikorsky
Sikorsky's delivery of two S-76C+ helicopters to the Chinese Ministry of Communications for search and rescue missions marks the latest success in a long relationship.

Six S-76 helicopters have been flying rescue missions since the early 1990s from Hong Kong for the Government Flying Service, which also operates three S-70A Black Hawks. In addition, six more S-76s are flown by Chinese helicopter operating companies in offshore support missions in China, and Macao-based East Asia Airlines operates four new S-76C+s on scheduled service.

The latest S-76C+s are configured with a rescue hoist, forward-looking infrared (FLIR), a Nightsun searchlight, four-axis auto hovering system, and one interior patient litter. They will be operated from the Shanghai Salvage and Rescue Bureau's new base at Gaodong, Shanghai. The Ministry of Communications also took options on two more S-76s.

By John Morris