Airbus Helicopters is offering a new warranty covering all its models for three years or 2,000 flight hours (including labor for the first year). “We are prepared to put our money where our mouth is,” the group’s CEO Guillaume Faury told AIN. “This is reflecting the fact that the company has done a lot to improve reliability, availability of spares, reactivity to questions from customers. These are things we have improved and will continue to improve.”

Quizzed on the impact of the dip in oil prices on energy industry support operations, Faury acknowledged that Airbus has seen some orders postponed by operators. “The oil companies themselves have to reduce their costs, so they are slowing down some exploration activities. But generally, activity in this industry remains high, but the newer contracts are going at a slower pace than we have seen before,” he explained. However, although the price of oil has recently recovered somewhat, “We assume the price will recover, but there remain uncertainties and this crisis may last 12 to 18 months.”

The EMS market continues to have much diversity, he said, adding that Airbus Helicopters has seen new markets emerging in Asia and in particular, China and India. “The potential of these markets is very high, so we are transitioning from the U.S. and Europe to a large extent to Asia in emergency medical services,” Faury said.