HEMS is a crucial topic in Italy and Airbus Helicopters opens its Italian Customer Center to be part of this market.

We discovered the last news of Airbus Helicopters during HEMS 2019. We interviewed its new General Manager in Italy, Mr Alexandre Ceccacci. Here’s the news from the biggest helicopters’ manufacturer in the world.

HEMS Congress 2019, in Massa, has been the excellent

stage for emergency helicopters’ players. Congress saw many exhibitors and professionals involved in the Italian Air Ambulance Departments. One of the protagonists of the congress has been Airbus Helicopters in Italy, the new branch of Airbus in the Country. Here we found Airbus and its members. Among them, we met Alexandre Ceccacci, the new General Manager of Airbus Italia. Airbus “land” in Italy by absorbing the reseller Aersud Elicotteri, which has been the protagonist of the market in the past 56 years. It is an important step in the history of the “H” helicopters in southern Europe.

What is the first impression of the Italian HEMS market?

“My first impression is positive – explains Mr Ceccacci, General Manager of Airbus -. Italy has a very professional market. I’ve met a lot of capable people who know exactly their mission. Their idea is clear. I think this environment will room a lot of exchanges. Understanding the expectations of our future customers is very important to us, in order to provide the answer they need”.

Which philosophy will be adopted by Airbus Helicopters in Italy in this new pathway?

“Creating a branch of Airbus in Italy is an important new step, but looking at the past, Italy did a great job.

Nowadays, we have 250 operating helicopters in Italy. It’s a big and professional market, so we decided to be directly part of it. We want to be close to Italy because we plan to have a long term presence in this Country. It’s a quite long term project, and we want to offer what we have. As said, we consider the Italian market a very professional one, with a very specific and high condition. We want to develop and improve our products satisfying customers’ requests. And to succeed in this goal, we have to understand and develop our products by listening to the necessities”.

What will be the future of helicopters market in Italy?

“We have a wide range of helicopters, but for the HEMS operations, we designed the perfect machine. The H145 it’s a wonderful machine. I had great feedback during this convention with doctors, pilots and crew members. But we always aim to improve our products, and H145 is one of them. I am very positive and forward-looking about this helicopter. It was designed precisely for HEMS missions, like SAR operations on Alpine mountains and critical high-mountain scenarios. That is why our final users love it. We improved the latest version with one more blade in order to reduce vibrations and making it a more comfortable aircraft for crew and patients. Then, its payload has been increased by 150 Kg. The feedback is excellent.”

HEMS is an extremely important topic all over the world, and Airbus is the main player in this field. Its helicopters, like the H145 and the H135 are famous worldwide for their performances in complex conditions.

“Airbus Helicopters covers 30% of the Italian market. We do not pretend everybody to be with us. What we want to bring is a product that satisfies the expectation, but the more important part is the support. Most important for Airbus is providing not only an excellent aircraft but also excellent support, as well. We are here to take total care of customers. Our service center will keep on support all those who need to be operative in any condition.”

What are the main words that will guide Airbus philosophy in this new adventure?

“Innovation and technology. We want these two words will guide our philosophy on the market. According to this, our H160 will be a new benchmark for the market. It will be an aircraft with very good speed, more range of use, and we believe it will satisfy all the expectations.”