The Anglo-Italian company, in collaboration with Sino-US, has unveiled its first headquarter in China. Its goal is to enter a constantly growing market through the front door

AgustaWestland gets stronger on the Chinese market as it makes its entrance through the front door. The Anglo-Italian Company announced it has launched its new local business office in Shanghai, in collaboration with Sino-US Intercontinental of China.

AgustaWestland aims at boosting its shares in one of the most rapidly expanding helicopter market in the world. China represents a commercial pole with endless potential: the creation of AgustaWestland China aims at expanding the presence of the Anglo-Italian firm in the Chinese civil helicopter industry.

Furthermore, the last Ascend’s report for FlightGlobal identifies this market segment as one of the main drivers of development of the industry. Other international firms have also addressed to the Far East: one of them is Airbus Helicopters, which is also pushed by the strong presence of its head offices in China.

‘The market is expanding extremely rapidly. Our current and potential clients shall benefit from this new presence – commented Daniele Romiti, AgustaWestland’s CEO-. In China, we’ve been partners with Sino US for two years, and after launching our new offices in Shanghai our presence on the Chinese market strengthens more and more’.

Sino-Us Intercontinental has been the official but non-exclusive provider for AgustaWestland’s civil helicopters since 2013 and has ordered 20 aircrafts until now, including the AW-119KE, the GrandNew, the AW169, the AW139, and the AW189.

This partnership has enabled the entrance of all AgustaWestland’s next generation helicopters in the Chinese market (the AW169 and the AW189 above all).

In the last years, AgustaWestland’s presence in China has grown rapidly, with orders for 60 different helicopters destined to civil operations.

The success of the Anglo-Italian company’s helicopters is mainly due to its passenger transport, rescue, firefighting, and law enforcement operations (almost one third of the sales concerns law enforcement field).

Among the operators that chose AgustaWestland, there are several agencies responsible for public utility services in Beijing, such as Dalian, Gaungxi, Shenzen, and the Ministry of Transports’ Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) for surveillance, environmental monitoring, and fight against water pollution.

Of course, there are also providers committed to passenger transport, such as Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited in Hong Kong, which ordered a fleet of six AW139 helicopters in 2007 to connect Macao to Shenzhen.