Airbus Helicopters assembly line in China will deliver seven H135 during this year for his chinese clients. 11 H135 could be delivered in 2021.
100 Airbus Helicopters H135 order.
Airbus reported about the Letter of Intent for the establishment of the final assembly line (FAL) in october 2015. In June 2016, Chinese consortium China Aviation Supplies Holding Co (CAS) and Qingdao United General Aviation Industrial Development ordered 100 H135, if the helicopter’s assembly is in Hi-Tech Jimo industrial site, in Qingdao. Agreement between Airbus and Chinese companies planned the production of first 5 H135 in Donauwörth, Germany, before the Qingdao assembly line could start operations- which occured in April 2019.
18 H135 capacity per year
Qingdao FAL annual capacity – 18 H135 per year- was disrupted by Covid-19 crisis. FAL activity restarted in April 2020.
Another sign of crisis is the fall of flight hours by Airbus Helicopters chinese clients in January and February, with a restarting in March, and resumed normal activity during second quarter of 2020. Flight hours for 2020 should be between 5 and 10% lower than 2019, and Qingdao assembly line will probably provide 11 H135 in 2021.