Phoenix Heliparts is expanding into Airbus Helicopters support with the opening of a new maintenance center in Scottsdale, Ariz. The addition of the new Phoenix Heliparts base, which will operate as Phoenix Heli-Support, marks the first major expansion for the 12-year-old company.

The new location comes via the acquisition late last summer of the maintenance, repair and overhaul assets of Vertical Aviation at Scottsdale Airport. The acquisition included three hangars, tools, documentation and other assets, providing a second location for Mesa, Ariz.-based Phoenix Heliparts. The Scottsdale facility will operate as both an Airbus Helicopters and Turbomeca service center, but under a separate Part 145 repair station certificate from the Mesa operation.

Moving into support of the Airbus Helicopters product lines is a key step in the growth of the company, said Phoenix Heliparts president Tina Cannon, noting that the manufacturer accounts for more than 60 percent of the market. “It’s very significant,” she said. “We have another factory. We also have a whole other market–we have a whole other world.”

Phoenix Heliparts, which Cannon and her husband Darin Cannon founded out of their garage in 2003, supports a variety of product lines, from Bell and MD Helicopters to Dash 8 airplanes to various avionics and electronics. “We’ve been very methodical about how we built our company,” Cannon said, adding that adding the new location is “a natural progression” for the company.

Phoenix Heliparts has had three technicians endorsed on Airbus helicopters, primarily on the AStar, but Cannon said it was not a market the company had previously pursued. “The Airbus market is very different,” she said, from the work with the manufacturer to customer relationships. When Vertical Aviation became available, it gave Phoenix Heliparts the opening to move into the market. But, Cannon stressed, “We didn’t want this to be seen as just an add-on. We want this to be seen as an authorized service center and as a commitment to the market.”

The company worked closely with Airbus Helicopters before and after the acquisition, establishing a strong working relationship that she said is critical to the success of the new venture. The company also has trained 15 technicians to work on the Airbus or Turbomeca lines. Darin Cannon, who is vice president of operations, is leading the new Phoenix Heli-Support facility.

As the company rolls out the new operation, it already has captured a number of support contracts for the Airbus products, including with the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Aviation Unit (two AS350s) and the Phoenix Police Air Support Unit (five AS350s). Phoenix Heli-Support also has lined up several local customers.

Cannon noted that the company in the past had received inquiries on whether it would pick up Airbus helicopter support and said it had several customers with mixed fleets that included Airbus rotorcraft. The expansion enables Phoenix Heliparts to provide more comprehensive support, she said.

Among the mixed-fleet customers was Jack Harter Helicopters. “We are very happy that Tina and Darin Cannon have decided to venture into the Airbus helicopter market,” said Casey Riemer, vice president and general manager of the operator. “We look forward to their team providing us with the same high quality of work on our AS350B2 that they have already delivered while working on our other aircraft.”

The new facility also received visibility through air tour operator Papillon Helicopters, which staged its EC130s at Phoenix Heli-Support’s facility in Scottsdale for shuttles to the Super Bowl.

The company also kicked off a “12” promotion in honor of its 12-year anniversary: $12,000 discounts for the first 12 AS350 operators to sign up for a 12-year inspection.