OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2012. At HeliRussia 2012 UTair Aviation and Eurocopter marked the 1 year anniversary of their jointly sponsored Training Center for pilots and maintenance personnel of  Eurocopter helicopters. The event was attended by the heads of both Eurocopter Vostok - the Russian subsidiary of the Eurocopter Group - and UTair – the leading helicopter company in the world in terms of fleet size and capacity. Leadership of both enterprises expressed their intentions to continue successful cooperation.

More than 70 pilots and maintenance engineers for the AS 350B3 and 355 N/NP helicopters have been trained and certified at the Center located in the city of Tyumen within the first year.

“The successful operation of the center shows the high degree of UTair professionalism and training standards and their commitment to complying with international requirements,” said Eurocopter Vostok Director for After-Sales Service Vanessa Schmidt. “The Russian market for air transport services is a key for us and we look forward to continued cooperation with UTair.”

“The UTair Training Center enjoys the full support of helicopter manufacturers and has secured communication on best practices and the latest training materials. The result of this collaboration has been the improvement and strengthening of the educational foundation of airline and the expansion of its vocational services range,” said UTair Training Center head Vladimir Demkin. Mr. Demkin also stressed that the airline’s subsidiary company UTair - Engineering is an authorized service center for Eurocopter helicopter.

UTair Aviation has operated Eurocopter rotary-wing aircraft since 2006 and currently maintains 12 AS350B3/B3e, AS355NP and BO 105 Eurocopter helicopter types in its fleet.  The helicopters are used on missions ranging from transport support for VIP passengers, the Russian oil and gas industry, pipeline patrols and light cargo transportation. UTair currently has 15 more AS-355 and AS-350 on order with deliveries expected in the near future.   UTair also is the launch customer for 15 next-generation EC175 helicopters, which the airline intends to put into operation beginning in 2013.