OREANDA-NEWS. December 29, 2011. A French delegation headed by French Ambassador to Russia Jean de Gliniasty visited the UTair Aviation base in Tyumen as a part of his official visit to the Tyumen region

Ambassador de Gliniasty was accompanied by representatives of the largest European aircraft manufacturers EADS, Airbus, Eurocopter and ATR as well as representatives from the energy, oil and gas industries as well as other representatives were met by UTair management at the UTair Engineering service base specializing in MRO of Russian and foreign-made helicopters.

The delegation also looked in on the UTair Personnel Training Center, one of the largest in the industry, which trains UTair pilots and their colleagues from other Russian airlines and foreign carriers.

The French guests remarked on the state-of-the-art facility and production culture at UTair Engineering and the Personnel Training Center. Both members of the French delegation and UTair representatives expressed confidence in further development of cooperation between French companies and UTair.

UTair Group has successfully exploited Eurocopter rotorcraft since 2006. UTair concluded a contract for the delivery of 20 new AS350 B3 and AS355 NP helicopters of the Ecureuil family in 2010. UTair will serve as the launch customer for the new twin-engine Eurocopter EC175 helicopter in Russia, helicopter and is the largest customer for this newest model in Russia, with a a firm contract for the delivery of 15 EC175 helicopters to 2013-2014. In addition, the UTair MRO service base in Tyumen is certified to conduct training and technical operations with Eurocopter aircraft.

For more than 5 years UTair has exploited the joint French and Itanial made ATR regional turbo-prop aircraft. In the spring of 2011, UTair concluded a contract for the delivery of 20 ATR 72-500 aircraft with increased seating capacity. The expansion of the UTair fleet with these aircraft will help the airline configure its fleet of regional aircraft with the demands of the growing regional air transport market.