"UTair’s Training Center joins Eurocopter Global Training Network"

From left to right: Derek Sharples, Eurocopter Executive Vice President for Support and Services. Laurence Rigolini, CEO Eurocopter Vostok. Andrei Martirosov, CEO UTair Aviation. Vladimir Demkin, director of Training Center for pilots and technicians (PTC). © Copyright Eurocopter Vostok, photographer Marina Listseva
Andrei Martirosov, CEO UTair Aviation, and Vladimir Demkin, director of Personnel Training Center (PTC) received from Derek Sharples, Eurocopter Executive Vice President for Support and Services, a certificate of conformity to Eurocopter training standards. Thus Eurocopter officially finalized the audit process of UTair training facility in Tyumen, Russia, and granted to the world's biggest helicopter operator rights for pilots and mechanics training in Russian language under Eurocopter training programs. Therefore, PTC becomes the 20th training center in Eurocopter training network and the 1st one without Eurocopter shareholding participation.

The center is approved for type rating training of pilots and mechanics on AS350 and AS355 helicopters, which are the best selling and most demanded Eurocopter light helicopter with nearly 5,000 helicopters delivered. This challenging project was launched by both partners three years ago with the signature of the frame contract at Heli Russia 2010. Now the center is fully operational and the first training course is scheduled for June 2011.

"Our companies have long partner relations. Start of pilot and engineer training at UTair training center is a new very important stage of successful cooperation. We are proud that our training center is the first one in Russia to be endorsed by Eurocopter: this confirms high level of our specialists', said Andrei Martirosov, CEO UTair Aviation.

"We are very proud to welcome UTair's PTC into the Eurocopter family. It becomes the 20th Training Center in the global Eurocopter network and is the 1st external training center ever certified by Eurocopter Group. This demonstrates UTair's PTC high level of professionalism and training standards, the latter being fully compliant with international regulations", stated Derek Sharples, Eurocopter Executive Vice President for Support and Services.

"We believe that the customization of Eurocopter's global offer through joint projects between Eurocopter Vostok and our Russian partners is a key for the effective follow-up of the Eurocopter fleet in a fast growing market. We are proud to work out this project with UTair, a well-recognized leader on the Russian and global market', said Laurence Rigolini, CEO of Eurocopter Vostok.

As part of the Eurocopter training network, UTair's Personnel Training Center will benefit from all kind of assistance like program updates, audits and Eurocopter's best training practices, thus significantly contributing to the expansion of UTair's services portfolio.

About UTair's Training Center

Personnel Training Center is registered as a non-commercial partnership and is one of the largest civil aviation training centers in Russia. The training center is established by UTair Aviation and its subsidiaries UTair Engineering and JSC Center of Transport and Services.

About UTair

UTair is the number one helicopter company in the world in terms of fleet size and payload that includes more than 250 Russian and foreign helicopters. Since 2006, UTair successfully operates Eurocopter helicopters. In 2010, UTair Aviation's subsidiary UTair Engineering has received a certificate confirming that it is an official MRO Center for Eurocopter helicopters AS350, AS355 N and BO105 for O and I checks. For more than 40 years, UTair trains pilots, stewards, mechanics, and technicians on how to fly and maintain helicopters and airplanes. At the moment, 23,000 students attend UTair's training classes every year. In 2010, UTair has ordered 16 AS350 and 4 AS355 helicopters.

About Eurocopter Vostok (www.eurocopter.ru)

Eurocopter Vostok, a 100% wholly-owned subsidiary of Eurocopter SAS, was created in 2006 to provide sales, customer support, and to implement fleet follow-up in Russia and the CIS. More than 140 Eurocopter helicopters currently are operating throughout Russia and the CIS countries – bringing the Eurocopter Group's share of the Russian and CIS gas turbine market for Western turbine-engine helicopters to more than 70 percent.

About Eurocopter

Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace, defense and related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approximately 17,500 people. In 2010, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world's number one helicopter manufacturer in the civil and parapublic market with a turnover of 4.8 billion Euros, orders for 346 new helicopters and a 49 percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group's helicopters account for 33 percent of the total worldwide civil and parapublic fleet. Eurocopter's strong worldwide presence is ensured by its 30 subsidiaries and participations on five continents, along with a dense network of distributors, certified agents and maintenance centers. There are currently 11,200 Eurocopter helicopters in service and some 2,900 customers in 147 countries. Eurocopter offers the largest civil and military helicopter range in the world.