Sloane Helicopters is targeting both self-fly drivers and corporate customers for the Agusta A119 Koala. Having introduced the single-engine helicopter at the company's UK facility, in conjunction with manufacturers Agusta Finmeccanica, Sloane's Mike Creed told EBAN: "With the Koala, we are targeting people who don't want to buy a twin, who want simple flying and simple systems, although having the safety and autopilot that most twins have.

"I also think it will also be an excellent corporate aircraft because it has got a huge cabin, the same size as the A109 Power, in fact."

Sloane's Koala is able to hold seven passengers and a pilot. Another use, says Creed, would be in the utility market, in terms of pleasure flying and charter work. "To get that amount of people in a single-engine aircraft could prove very, very economical for charter operators.

"In fixed wing terms, its happened with aircraft like the PC-12, where the single engine has been utilised in such a good way that you're putting more people into the single engines."

One example of the type of customer who Sloane is targeting, is the JetRanger owner. Creed said: "Currently there are 131 JetRangers in the UK market and usually clients who buy JetRangers have the wherewithal to move up."

"In addition," said Creed, "we're basically hitting a lot of the website publications. We are actively sourcing and marketing in, shall we say, tangent advertising. The aviation world has always been very good at advertising to the trade world."

In addition, Sloane makes appearances at events like the Royal Show and country fairs. The company says it is also targeting the banking world quite heavily, for the transport of executives.

Finally, with regard to the general perception of the helicopter industry as a tool for business or pleasure, Creed said there was still a lot of work to do. "I think helicopters in general have always been considered dangerous, noisy and smelly. People believe that if you have engine failure, you crash.

"This is the perception that the general public has; but once you get them into the fold, they're actually quite nicely surprised," he added.

Sloane received around 50 specially targeted guests for its preview day.