Montreal, Canada-based Optima Aero is to begin operations in New Aquitaine, France. Its Optima Aero Europe subsidiary will dismantle end-of-life helicopters and provide reconditioned helicopter parts for Airbus, Leonardo and Bell helicopters.

EASA certified parts will be marketed primarily on the European market but also in Africa and the Middle East. The company has also set itself the objective of innovating in aftermarket services with a clear and stated ambition: the reduction of the carbon footprint in the helicopter industry.

Optima Aero's mission is the economic life extension of helicopters in service using reconditioned parts. The support increases availability of parts, reduces their cost and the carbon footprint linked to the manufacturing cycle of new parts from mining to machining and assembly. According to the Sustainability Report by ELG Haniel Group in 2015, installing serviceable parts instead of new avoids up to 16 times the part's weight in carbon emissions.

The establishment of the facility in France will enable the local dismantling of helicopters and therefore will reduce transportation and related delays and carbon footprint. Decarbonising Aerospace: A road map for the industry's lower-emission future published by Deloitte Insights in 2021, claims that the manufacture of new parts is equivalent to 18 per cent of the total carbon footprint of the aeronautical industry.

In 2020, Optima Aero committed itself to reducing health, safety and environmental risks in aeronautical maintenance and cleaning operations, and established the company Limz Inc to offer high performance ecological products that were certified non-toxic and biodegradable. By settling in the Biarritz region, Optima Aero hopes to accelerate the distribution of its cleaner/degreaser Aeroclean as well as its deoxidiser Aerodesox across Europe.

Optima Aero was supported in this initiative by Basque Invest, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Pays Basque urban community, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Quebec, the General Delegation of Quebec in Paris, Investissement Québec International as well as by Aéro Montréal.