HELICOPTEROS DO BRASIL SA
Formed 1978; owned jointly by Grupo Bueninvest (30 per cent), MGI Participacoes (25 per cent) and Eurocopter France (45 per cent). First assembly hall inaugurated 28 March 1980; facility occupies 12,000 m2 (129,200 sq ft); new facilities, totalling 3,800 m2 (40,900 sq ft) opened at Sao Paulo in second quarter of 1998 for maintenance, spares, training, sales and marketing. Total of 310 personnel employed in 2002.
Assembly, marketing and overhaul, under Eurocopter licence, of single- and twin-engined Ecureuil/Fennec helicopters and twin-engined Dauphin/Panther; markets in Brazil and overhauls civil Eurocopter AS350/355 Esquilo (Fennec), EC 130, EC 135, AS 332 Super Puma; Eurocopter/Kawasaki BK 117C-1 (EC 145); and Eurocopter/CATIC/ST Aero EC 120.
Total of more than 440 helicopters, including some 310 Esquilos, sold by January 2002, representing 50 per cent of the turbine-powered helicopter fleet in Brazil; to more than 90 customers, including 206 to Brazilian police forces, Army, Navy and Air Force; nearly 10 per cent of overall total exported to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. Supply of new EC 120B Colibri to local owners began in 1999. Details of local Esquilo versions last appeared in 2000-01.
