Airbus Helicopters foresees challenging 2017, rebound seen in 2018

SUBANG: Airbus Helicopters Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the helicopter manufacturing-arm of the Airbus Group, foresees a challenging 2017 due to domestic economic uncertainties and a weaker ringgit.

Vice-president for Sales Guillaume Dubreuil said helicopter prices were now 15 and 20 per cent more expensive, due to the weaker ringgit, and this has limited demand.

He, however, expected a rebound in 2018 and 2019 amid a recovery in the oil and gas sector, as well as, the economy.

Dubreuil said a stable economy coupled with a stronger ringgit, improving oil prices and aircraft replacement were expected to benefit the company significantly post-2018.

In 2018 to 2019, he said orders for Airbus helicopters were expected to pick up on the back of the mentioned reasons as the combination of factors would result in greater confidence in the economy and a spike in investment activities.

This would also result in government agencies having more budget for the upgrade of military aircraft.

“We foresee global oil prices and the ringgit to rebound beginning 2018 and the country is expected to be stable economically.

“This would boost demand for helicopters from several segments, particularly the oil and gas sector.

“I think the players in the oil and gas sector will have to replace their fleet by 2020 (due to ageing) as many were still using less efficient aircraft compared with our H175 and H160 models” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Dubreuil said the new models can be operated and maintained at a cheaper cost compared with the models used currently in the sector, which was in line with oil companies’ move to reduce operation costs.

Apart from the oil and gas segment, he said the group was also looking into the government segment through talks with relevant army, navy and air force.

“The military is currently using ageing fleet, despite having gone through an upgrading exercise.

I think at one point the military including the army and navy will replace their fleet,” he said.

Compared with the current fleet which has been in use the last 30 years, Dubreuil said the Airbus H225M helicopter would offer savings of up to 30 per cent in maintenance cost. — Bernama

Stocks of processed palm oil fell by 8.55 per cent to 692,343 tonnes in February against 757,049 tonnes in January. — AFP photo

In 2018 to 2019, orders for Airbus helicopters were expected to pick up on the back of the mentioned reasons as the combination of factors would result in greater confidence in the economy and a spike in investment activities. — Reuters photo