Airbus Helicopters Company has signed a partnership with EAN Aviation Limited (EAN), making EAN a distributor for Airbus Helicopters in West Africa.

The strategic partnership between the two Aviation giants focuses on the West African civilian market, excluding military.

In essence, civil customers in Nigeria can now contract directly with EAN Aviation Limited who will be offering sales, servicing and support for helicopters in the West African region.

Chief Executive Officer of EAN Aviation Limited, Segun Demuren, said EAN has been at the forefront of business aviation development in Nigeria for over a decade

“Also, the partnership is the 7th of its kind globally. Nigeria, with the largest population in Africa and the largest GDP, offers substantial growth potential in domestic travel for Airbus Helicopters with EAN firmly positioned, as seasoned experts in the Nigerian and West African region to drive value creation,” he said.

Demuren said the company looks forward to leveraging its impressive network, in-depth market understanding to grow the helicopter services industry and to add value to Airbus Helicopters activity in the West African region by deepening connectivity and operational efficiency.

He further said Nigeria for example, has 32 airports but 774 local governments that helicopters can access.

“We are glad to be affiliated with a brand that has gained the trust of millions of people, based on their decades of experience and millions of flight hours,” he said.

Vice President, Middle East and Africa, Airbus Helicopters, Arnaud Montalvo, said safety remains at the heart of everything the company does, adding that the team strives to meet the highest safety levels, and will provide servicing and support to ensure the safe operation of all their aircraft and products in the West African region, which we know “is very important to our clients.”

According to him, they are thrilled to have EAN as their first independent distributor in the West African region.

“Their knowledge of the market is second to none. We are confident in their expert team to ensure the success of this partnership and excited about the opportunity to expand our footprint in West Africa by growing the civilian market for helicopters, which is well suited to the region’s aviation needs, providing operational flexibility to develop the current transportation architecture,” said Montalvo.

Montalvo explained that EAN has been selected in consideration of its local commercial structure, capacity to further develop local and ancillary markets, ability to support Airbus customers and contribute to customer satisfaction according to Airbus Helicopters’ Ethics and Compliance requirements.