A400M and H145 Among Airframer Highlights in Santiago
Airbus looks set to be the largest single exhibitor at Chile’s biennial defence and aerospace exhibition, FIDAE 2018, which takes place in Santiago de Chile next week.
Highlights of Airbus Defence & Space’s presence will include an A400M from the Spanish Air Force and a C295 military transporter in service with the Mexican Air Force. Chile already has a total of twelve Airbus light and medium transport aircraft in service – the C212, CN235 and C295.
Making its debut at FIDAE will be the H145, which will be delivered to Chilean operator Ecocopter, becoming the first of its type in service in the country. With more than 100 helicopters in service, the SUPER PUMA family will be represented by the 9t H215M, which combines mission-proven ruggedness with a full glass cockpit, modern avionics, and very competitive operating and maintenance costs. Airbus leads the field in the Latin American helicopter market, with 39% of deliveries in the past five years, and will showcase a wide range of products already in service, from the light single-engine H125 and H130 to the medium H155, to the light twin-engine H135 and H145.
In the space field, Airbus will exhibit its satellite offering. Visitors will see a mockup of the AstroBus-S, a compact satellite with high performance that was the basis of the Perú SAT-1, the Peruvian satellite built in a timeframe of less than two years and successfully launched in September 2016.
