Turbomeca Expands Service Network with New TurboSupport Centers in Spain and Southwestern U.S.

Paris Air Show, 14 June 2003

Turbomeca continues its worldwide service expansion with the appointment of Albacete-based Hispacopter as a TurboSupport Center for Spain. Additionally, the company has opened an entirely new facility in Las Vegas, Nevada to support operators primarily in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.

Both facilities will place more resources in closer proximity to Turbomeca operators. Hispacopter will provide support for more than 190 Turbomeca Arriel and Arrius engines in Spain. The Las Vegas facility also supports Arriel and Arrius engines and is headed by 16-year Turbomeca veteran Wayne Young, who previously supervised the company’s Grand Prairie, Texas TurboSupport Center.

With these latest additions, the number of worldwide TurboSupport Centers has risen from 14 to 21 in the last 18 months. Turbomeca anticipates having 25 such service centers in operation before the end of 2003.

All TurboSupport Centers provide line and heavy maintenance, including engine removal and installation, borescope inspections and designated parts replacements. They are certified and routinely audited by Turbomeca to ensure superior service. Their field technicians receive factory training and they have all of the tools and equipment to properly service Turbomeca engines.

Rapid Response field technicians are based at each TurboSupport Center and are ready to be dispatched to operators requiring urgent service. These team members are on call 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

The expansion of the field service network is a central aspect of Turbomeca’s MORE Initiative, whose objective is to place more resources closer to operators in the field and make the entire Turbomeca organization more responsive to their needs.

***

Turbomeca is the world leader in helicopter engine manufacturing. Since the company began operations, it has produced 49,000 turbine engines. With more than 2 000 customers over 140 countries, Turbomeca provides a wide range of service through 14 sites, 3 subsidiaries, 23 TurboSupport Centers, 32 repair centers and 90 Field representatives and mechanics. The corporate office is based in Bordes (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France) with a U.S. subsidiary in Grand Prairie,Texas. Turbomeca is part of the Snecma Group, an aerospace propulsion and equipment group. Microturbo, also a subsidiary of Turbomeca, is the European leader of turbojet engines for missiles, drones and auxiliary power units.

Bettina Frey
Tel: (33) 5 59 12 55 69
Fax: (33) 5 59 12 52 00
Email: bettina.frey@turbomeca.fr