Plans are proceeding apace for a new European helicopter show planned by the European Helicopter Association (EHA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The European Rotors event has secured the backing of helicopter manufacturers and will integrate EASA’s premier rotorcraft and VTOL (vertical-takeoff-and-landing) safety and training symposiums.
The organizers are proceeding on the assumption that the COVID-19 crisis will have abated sufficiently by November to allow trade events.
“The new gathering for the industry marks an important milestone in our endeavors to promote the social and economic value of rotorcraft operations for European society,” says EHA Chairman Peter Moeller.
“We are very confident that this show will happen. It will very likely be one of the very first aerospace events held in Europe [this year],” says show project manager Tobias Bretzel.
The closest that Europe’s helicopter industry has had to a regional show was the UK-organized Helitech, last held in 2018. For more than 10 years, EHA has wanted a more-embracing, centralized show for Europe’s operators, and the opportunity arose in partnership with EASA and its annual helicopter safety symposium, held over two days every December.
“There was a strong request from operators and from our members to have one dedicated event a year for Europe,” says Moeller. The show will, like the annual Heli-Expo event in the U.S., focus on civil, commercial and parapublic operations, including police, medical and air rescue.
Major OEMs supporting the show include Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopter, Leonardo, Safran and Kopter.
The exhibits and safety and training programs also will address vertical takeoff and landing insofar as the missions are complementary to commercial rotorcraft operations, such as search and rescue, wind-farm support and urban mobility, says show organizer Frank Liemandt. Exhibitors in this sector already include Volocopter. The show will go beyond traditional trade subjects, with panel discussions on urban mobility and air taxi, with the participation of the German DLR research agency.
Moeller noted that around 10,000 helicopters are in service in Europe, with the majority of operators having five or fewer aircraft.
“It’s a very fragmented market. That’s why we decided to have a show where everyone could find what they are looking for,” he explained. “We want to touch base with the maintenance guys, the operational guys, the pilots, so that we are spreading a safety aspects of our work all across the board.”
Plans also call for student participation through team competitions. Based on the idea of the hackathon events to develop computer software, Rotorthon plans to gather six teams of aviation students to brainstorm about rotorcraft topics from design and infrastructure to airspace organization, with prizes awarded on the last day.
