Airbus Helicopters has appointed Thai Aviation Industries (TAI) as its prime contractor and completion centre for the sale and distribution of its helicopters to Thailand's military and governmental customers.

Under this agreement, TAI will act on behalf of Airbus for new rotorcraft sales in the country. At the same time, TAI will undertake additional work share including: conducting acceptance checks of green helicopters at Airbus Helicopters facilities; transportation, incoming checks and reassembly; customisation and completion work; flight checks, ferry flights and final delivery to customers; as well as contract and warranty management.

Airbus will in turn provide TAI with engineering support, knowledge transfer and training. The latest phase of partnership covers the entire Airbus range of H125/H125M, H130, H135, H145/H145M, H160, H175, H215/H215M, H225/H225M helicopters.

The latest development between the two organisations expands on an earlier agreement signed in 2019 between the parties to extend the aftersales support of all Airbus helicopters operated by Thailand's military and government agencies.

Air Chief Marshal Supachai Saingurn, MD of Thai Aviation Industries, states: “We are honoured to take our partnership with Airbus another step forward. Having worked with Airbus to develop a strong maintenance operation and aftersales support chain in Thailand, we are confident of delivering further key milestones that will benefit our customers.”

“This new agreement underlines Airbus' desire and commitment to building a robust aviation environment in Thailand that brings greater convenience to our customers. We are building on a strong foundation that has seen reliable maintenance support provided through our partner, TAI,” adds Vincent Dubrule, head of Airbus Helicopters Asia-Pacific. “Thailand is an important market for Airbus, and has seen our comprehensive range of helicopters operated by the military and governmental sectors. We are confident of growing this presence, and will continue to work alongside TAI to strengthen the local support chain.”