Germany’s Euroheli has set itself the task of acquiring an AS355 over the next two years. The company operated one several years ago and has decided it’s once again time to have the twin-engined aircraft

in its fleet.

EBAN tracked down md Peter Nowotny at the company’s headquarters south of Nuremberg, in the tiny town of Dippenricht, to find out more. He told us: “We need a twin-engine for night flights and for film and photo flights.

“I think I could get one for between 1.3 and 1.5 million euros at the moment but ideally I would like to find an owner for whom I can manage the aircraft.”

Euroheli owns 100 per cent of its current fleet, which consists of three EC120s, one AS350 and a Bell 407. The AS350 is used for spraying and dusting forests and the 407 for long-line work in Austria.

The company’s Eurocopter aircraft are based in Nuremberg and Freiburg and are used mainly for cargo transport and also for vip and photographic flights.

Most recently, they were deployed at the Powerboat Festival in Austria where they transported vips between locations.

The aircraft can seat four comfortably, all have soundproofing and a telephone onboard and all share the same interior design.

Said Nowotny: “We chose the

120s because at 120 knots they are fast for their category, they’re very comfortable and our customers like them because they’re not expensive like the AS350.

“We have plenty of space for cargo flights and to that end, we do a lot of work with the auto-

mobile industry.”

Not as much, however, as several years ago when the industry was infinitely more busy. Said Nowotny: “At the moment it’s very low. The economy is not good in Germany at the moment and this

is obviously having a knock-on effect on all of us.”

Fortunately for Euroheli, says Nowotny, competition in Nuremberg is non-existent at the moment, particularly since fellow operator Heli Union ceased operations.

However there is plenty of competition for business outside this city and the company is hoping

that the addition of an AS355 will propel its business interests even further forward.