Rotorcraft
Fast-growing Eurocopter Has Deep Roots In China
First deliveries of Eurocopter’s 16,500-pound E175 (or Z15, as the Chinese version is known) are set for the fourth quarter of this year. U.S. launch customer Bristow Helicopters brought an example to the recent Heli-Expo show in Las Vegas.
First deliveries of Eurocopter’s 16,500-pound E175 (or Z15, as the Chinese version is known) are set for the fourth quarter of this year. U.S. launch customer Bristow Helicopters brought an example to the recent Heli-Expo show in Las Vegas.

Eurocopter’s presence in China goes back more than 40 years to the first sale of an Alouette III helicopter in the country in 1967. But since then, the European manufacturer has set down much deeper roots in China and the new twin-engine EC175 (or Z15, as the Chinese version is known) represents the latest stage in a wide-ranging cooperation with China’s Avicopter (see box) through the Shanghai-based joint venture Eurocopter China.