Eurocopter South East Asia’s (ESEA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new facilities as it will move from Loyang Way to Seletar Aerospace Park that is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2010.

The ceremony was officiated by representatives from Jurong Town Council (JTC), ST Aerospace, European Aerospace Defence Space (EADS) and Eurocopter.

The new state-of-the-art facilities will cover an area of 8,200 square metres and include a hangar which will be twice the size of the current one.

Established in 1977 in Singapore, ESEA has a staff of 200 professionals and 27 researchers from EADS Innovation Works (EADS IW) who will be relocated to the new facility.

Mr Philippe Harache, Eurocopter’s Senior Executive Vice-President, said, “The new facilities will primarily allow both ESEA and EADS IW to expand its Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), training services, as well as Research and Development (R&D) activities.

“Other advantages include the possibility of reinforcing synergies within the EADS group, increasing efficiency and productivity, reducing fixed operation costs; all of which is of utmost importance during the current economic downturn.”

ESEA’s new facility will have additional hangar space that will allow the company to accommodate twice as many helicopters for MRO activities.

The current capacity allows 12 helicopters.

ESEA’s maintenance staff will soon be able to work on 24 helicopters at the same time.

Helicopter pilots and technicians from across South East Asia will also have the privilege of undergoing courses in bigger and better-equipped facilities.

There are currently around 350 trainees yearly for type rating, refresher, specific mission and on-job training courses at the Singapore Helicopter Training Centre (SHTC), ESEA’s training branch.

The new facility will enable the company to better cater to the various student training programs with local education institutions.

ESEA and EADS IW will also be able to make use of this increased proximity to strengthen collaboration in innovation projects and R&D activities.