Airbus is extending its footprint in Malaysia by opening a new regional helicopter completion and delivery centre (CDC) at its Subang facility. The CDC will enable Airbus to complete and deliver helicopters for customers in the southeast Asia region, consolidating Malaysia's role as Airbus' regional hub for helicopter services, customer support and full-flight simulator training.

Malaysia's transport minister Anthony Loke officially opened the regional centre.

Raymond Lim, head of Airbus in Malaysia, comments: “The move to set up a regional helicopter completion and delivery centre in Malaysia demonstrates our unwavering commitment to the country's aerospace industry, in particular the promotion of Malaysia's growing industrial footprint across all areas of our business.

“This expansion is part of our growth plan for the region, and will enable us to provide the best possible end-to-end support to our customers in this fast-growing region, backed by our extensive range of helicopter services.”

The new regional helicopter centre can accommodate up to four medium-sized helicopters. It is capable of assembling and delivering up to 20 helicopters per year across all models.

In addition to the new completion and delivery centre, the company has also expanded its full motion full-flight simulation centre with the addition of a Dauphin AS365 N3/N3+ simulator to its existing H225/H225M simulator. With two simulators in place, training of pilots and crew from customers in the military, parapublic and civil sectors through the Asia-Pacific region and beyond can now take place in Malaysia.

Strategically located 25 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur, Airbus Helicopters' Malaysia facility spans more than 10,000 sqm. The facility is fully-equipped to provide a broad spectrum of services from scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, aircraft modifications, aircraft completion and delivery, material management and technical support. Airbus Helicopters has a team of over 100 personnel, supporting operations in the region.

The expansion of the facility at Subang further extends Airbus presence in Malaysia. Airbus is the largest international partner for the Malaysian aerospace industry, with its sourcing and services businesses in the country worth USD400 million annually for the local economy. The company's activities currently sustain employment for over 4,000 Malaysians in the country's fast-growing aviation sector.

In addition to the regional helicopters centre, Airbus operates a customer services centre at Sepang offering specialised aircraft modification and design services. Through its fully-owned Sepang Aircraft Engineering, the company offers maintenance, repair and overhaul for A320 family and ATR series of aircraft.