Eurocopter opens new helicopter development centre in Germany

                     
Eurocopter has opened its new helicopter development centre in Donauwörth, Germany.

“Today’s Systemhaus inauguration is a decisive step forward in Eurocopter’s industrial strategy,” explained Eurocopter CEO Guillaume Faury. “By gaining the full system capability to develop, manufacture and maintain helicopters in Donauwörth, we generate remarkable advantages in terms of product and technology cycles. It’s a long-term investment with far-reaching impact that ultimately serves both our customers and enhances our competitiveness.”

“Concentrating development, manufacturing and maintenance in Donauwörth not only reinforces Eurocopter’s own expertise and boosts the company’s performance, it also strengthens the entire Bavarian aerospace industry,” said Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer during his visit to the site. “In the race to the future, the key thing is to always be faster, better and more innovative, and Eurocopter is showing us how it’s done. The new Systemhaus is a pure expression of high-tech innovation, and it is a prime example of what Bavaria has to offer as a location for the aerospace sector.”

EADS CEO Tom Enders said the Systemhaus is part of a series of major investments that EADS has pursued in Germany – and particularly in Bavaria. “Premium AEROTEC has officially opened a new engineering center in Augsburg; Astrium is building a new engine production facility in Ottobrunn; and a planned research campus also is taking shape in Ottobrunn,” he said. “This is all good news for the region and for EADS: We are building on Germany’s long tradition of aerospace strength and laying the groundwork for a consolidation of the Group’s leading posi-tion in the market.”

Since the start of the Systemhaus’ construction in July 2011, Eurocopter has invested some €100 million in the development centre project.

A project comparable to the Systemhaus is being realised at the company’s Marignane location, close to Marseille in the south of France. There, too, Eurocopter is building a new development centre as part of its strategy of sustainable innovation and technology.

Photograph: copyright Charles Abarr (left to right) Wolfgang Schoder, CEO Eurocopter Deutschland; Thomoas Enders, CEO EADS; Horst Seehofer, Minister President of Bavaria and Guillaume Faury, CEO Eurocopter