Mexico-based Craft Avia Center is planning to open a technical maintenance centre for Ansat type civilian helicopters in the city of Guadalajara, in cooperation with Russian Helicopters, part of Rostec State Corporation. It is due to open in 2020 and will be equipped with requisite documentation and technology and staffed by trained Mexican technical service engineers. The first Ansat helicopter will be delivered to Mexico for Craft Avia Center in 2019.

“We have long and successful cooperations in the field of helicopter construction with our Mexican partners,” says Rostec director for international cooperation and regional policy Viktor Kladov. “Around 50 Russian-made Mi-17 type helicopters are successfully operated here. Rostec is focused on both strengthening its cooperation with Mexico and developing long-term relations with the whole region of Latin America. Creating a maintenance centre for the Russian Ansat helicopter is a significant step forwards along this path. I'm confident that it will both strengthen and expand our cooperation in the field of aviation, as well as make the light Ansat helicopter more attractive to potential customers in both Mexico and Latin America in general.”

During 2014-2015, Russian Helicopters conducted successful overhauls of 19 helicopters operated by the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense. Currently the company is providing comprehensive after-sales support maintaining the whole fleet of Mi-17 helicopters operated in the territory of Mexico.

The light multi-purpose helicopter Ansat, which has the largest cabin in its class, is actively used by Russian air medical services. The twin-engine helicopter is a compact size and does not require a large landing area. It can also be used for normal passenger and VIP transport, cargo delivery and environmental monitoring. The Ansat has been successfully tested for high-altitude operations, confirming that it can be used in mountainous areas with altitudes up to 3,500 metres.

The multi-purpose Mi-17-1V is one of the modifications of the Mi-17 type, designed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters. It has a top speed of 250 km/h and maximum flight range of over 600 kilometres. It can carry up to 37 paratroopers, and the civilian variant is widely used for cargo and passenger transport, firefighting and rescue operations.