Volvo Aero - Astec

VOLVO AERO TO COOPERATE WITH NORWEGIAN ASTEC FOR MAINTENANCE OF HELICOPTER ENGINES Astec Helicopter Services, Stavanger, Norway, and Volvo Aero Corporation, Trollhättan, Sweden, have signed an agreement in principle aimed at establishing a joint company for the repair and overhaul of helicopter engines. The cooperation is based on the full-service capability of the two companies to offer complete overhaul of a number of different engine types. The aim of the planned joint-venture agreement is to create a highly competitive unit that can offer engine repair and overhaul on the world market, where a current customer just now is the helicopter type that is selected as the standard helicopter within the Nordic Standard Helicopter Program (NSHP). Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland are cooperating within NSHP on the purchase of a multi-role helicopter intended mainly for use as troop transport duties, search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare. This procurement involves a total of 70 to 100 helicopters in the 9-15 ton class. However, the cooperation agreement between Volvo Aero and Astec also covers the possibility of offering maintenance services for helicopters with the same engine type in markets outside the Nordic region. CHC is one of the world's largest helicopter companies, with a fleet of more than 300 aircraft and 2,500 employees in 21 countries. CHC is listed on the Toronto and NASDAQ exchanges and has annual sales of nearly SEK 4 billion. Astec Helicopter Services in Stavanger has about 300 employees and sales exceeding SEK 700 M annually. Currently, Astec Helicopter Services offers maintenance and repairs for the most common types of helicopter engines on the market, including the French Turbomeca Makila engine and the American General Electric CT-58. Within its Engine Services business area in Trollhättan, Volvo Aero conducts repair and overhaul of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-Basic engine and a number of smaller engines, such as the CT7 and PW100 turboprop engines, TFE731, JT15 D and FJ44 turbofan engines as well as the Gnome turboshaft engine. The business area's central workshop for repair of aircraft engines in all engine programs is also located in Trollhättan. Engine Services also has operations in Stockholm for overhaul of the JT8D- 200 and JT9-D turbo-fan engines and maintenance of aircraft components. Volvo Aero's sales amount to about SEK 10 billion annually. Background information to editors Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are currently involved in joint procurement of medium-heavy helicopters. Tenders have been forwarded to a number of helicopter suppliers in Europe and the US: European EH Industries (EH 101 helicopter), Eurocopter (Cougar Mk III) and NH Industries (NH 90 helicopter) and the American Boeing (Chinook) and Sikorsky (S 92 helicopter) companies. The objective for all the countries is to procure a joint Nordic standard helicopter that after modification for partly varying tasks is suitable for all of the aforementioned missions, If the objective with the joint procurement is achieved and, in addition, cooperation is established in the areas of logistics and training, it is expected that major cost savings can be achieved. January 22, 2001 For further information, contact Kjell Johansson, Astec, +47 9132 2430, or Stefan Themer, Volvo Aero, +46 520 94834, mobile +46 706 954 533. Additional information about both companies is available on the Internet: www.chc.ca/norway.html, www.volvo.com and about the helicopter procurement program at the Swedish Armed Forces website, www2.mil.se/index.php?c=news&id=310 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/22/20010122BIT00380/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/22/20010122BIT00380/bit0002.pdf