RTE CONTRIBUTES TO ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN BY REPLACING PART OF ITS HELICOPTER FLEET
Eurocopter and RTE have signed a contract worth €9 million. By agreeing this year to replace a portion of its fleet, RTE is extending its commitment under the Economic Stimulus Plan. Eurocopter will thus deliver 4 aircraft to RTE: 3 single-turbine “Ecureuils” and one twin-turbine EC135. They will all be equipped with Turbomeca engines.

SAGEM SIGNS SUPPORT CONTRACT FOR STRIX SIGHTS ON AUSTRALIAN TIGER
At the Paris Air Show, Eurocopter subsidiary Australian Aerospace and Sagem (Safran Group) signed a contract for support services for the STRIX sights deployed on the Australian Army’s twenty-two EC665 Tiger combat helicopters.

AIR FRANCE INDUSTRIES AND AIRCELLE CREATE MIDDLE-EAST-BASED JOINT VENTURE
Air France Industries and Aircelle (Safran Group) are partnering to create a joint venture for aircraft maintenance and repair services for aircraft engine pods in the Middle East. The joint venture will be based in Dubai’s “Jebel Ali Free Zone”.

THALES’ NEW GENERATION IFF SELECTED BY LOCKHEED MARTIN FOR ITS TPS-79 SURVEILLANCE RADAR
Thales’ new medium- to long-range IFF interrogator has been selected by Lockheed Martin for integration with its TPS-79 Multi-Mission Tactical Air Surveillance Radar Systems. Under the contracts Thales will deliver 22 interrogator systems.

AVIANOVA CONTRACTS SABENA TECHNICS FOR A 5 YEAR INTEGRATED SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR ITS A320 FLEET
Sabena Technics has signed a 5-year contract with Avianova, Russia’s new low-cost carrier, to perform full support services on its A320 fleet. Avianova intends to operate forty A320 aircraft over the next five years.

SAFRAN RECEIVES A LOAN OF €300 MILLION FROM EIB TO DEVELOP CLEANER AIRCRAFT ENGINES
The EIB loan will be used to finance R&D in fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly aircraft engines. The goal is to develop the successor to the CFM56 engine: 16% lower fuel consumption, 15 to 20 dB less noise, and 60% less nitrogen oxide.

MARTIN BAKER AND BREMONT ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD ULTIMATE AVIATION WATCH
The watch is on display at the Martin-Baker stand
Hall 2B Stand E93.

WIZZ AIR SIGNS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH AIRBUS TO BUY FIFTY AIRBUS A320s
The low-cost airline Wizz Air today signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of 50 additional A320s, which will bring the total orders for this type of aircraft to 132. The aircraft will be configured in a single-class layout seating up to 180 passengers. No choice of engine has been made yet.

EUROCOPTER SIGNS CONTRACT TO RETROFIT TWENTY-SIX CH53 BUNDESWEHR HELICOPTERS
Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH and the German Federal Agency for Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) signed a €24.9 million contract at the Paris Air Show to retrofit one prototype followed by a further 25 of the German Army’s CH53 GS/GE transport helicopters with the capability to perform personnel recovery missions.

EUROCOPTER SOUTHEAST ASIA DELIVERS FIRST EC155 B1 TO VIETNAMESE COMPANY
Eurocopter Southeast Asia has just delivered the first EC155 B1 to Northern Service Flight Company (NSFC) based in Hanoi (Vietnam). NSFC recently ordered a second EC155 B1, to be delivered in 2010.

EUROPE AVIATION TO BUILD NEW HANGAR AT CHATEAUROUX SITE
Europe Aviation will build a new 10,000 m2 hangar at the Chateauroux site, with a capacity to accommodate wide and narrow body aircraft. It will create 120 new jobs when completed in 2010.

AIR AUSTRAL CHOOSES AFI KLM E&M FOR SUPPORT OF ITS B777s
Air Austral has chosen AFI KLM E&M for support of its three B777-200s and two B777-300ERs

SABENA TECHNICS AND AL WAZZAN GROUP ANNOUNCE MRO PARTNERSHIP IN THE MIDDLE EAST 
The objective of this partnership is to develop a maintenance centre for operators providing service in the Middle East from Kuwait City. The first customer will be Wataniya.