Ian Sheppard has acted as Editor International Show Editions for AIN since June 2013. Based in the Redhill, England, Ian reports for the various AIN publications as well as providing support to International Editor Charles Alcock in covering international air shows (such as Farnborough, Paris, Singapore and Dubai), and the EBACE and MEBA business aviation events. His central role is to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Prior to becoming more involved with AIN in mid-2011 (initially as deputy international editor), Ian worked for various aviation publications through his company, First Aerospace Media. This included being part of the AIN team covering daily news at international air shows.
Ian has worked for publications such as Flight International (technical reporter, 1997-8) and Aerospace International (editor, 1999-2000). He was publications manager at Airclaims (Ascend) between 2000 and 2004 before forming First Aerospace Media. Since mid-2009 Ian has also been managing editor of Regional International, the journal of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).
Ian hasis working towards a European commercial pilot licence, having held an FAA private pilot license in 1991, and instructor rating. He also has a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Bath, England, and a graduate diploma in law from Kingston University, and is a graduate of the legal practice course (College of Law, Guildford).

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Ian Sheppard

Leonardo Helicopters (Booth T71) has reported stronger growth in the European market than in previous years, and believes that “even in case of a market downturn, the flexibility of our helicopters allow us to be relatively safe because we can address all types of requirements.” The company has final assembly lines in Vergiate and Tessera, Italy; Yeovil, UK; Świdnik, Poland; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 


“The state of the market is better than it used to be, and Leonardo is very optimistic about its helicopter family, which includes the AW168, AW139 and AW189," Emilio Dalmasso, head of global sales, told&nbsp;AIN. ﻿“Our helicopters are perfect for a number of missions such as EMS/SAR, offshore transport, and corporate/VIP transport.”

 


The AW169, he noted, “has registered a growing success with almost 60 units delivered and a solid and growing order book, especially in the VIP/corporate transport and EMS/parapublic sectors.”

 


Meanwhile, the AW139 is “perfectly mature without having lost the edge over the competition, with a cemented confidence from operators of all kinds,” he said, and the AW189 is “the go-to super-medium helicopter.” Apart from the obvious offshore market, it is the perfect helicopter for long-range SAR missions, he said.

 


Specifically addressing the offshore market, which has suffered from the lull in oil prices in recent years, Dalmasso said, “We see better conditions…which is very positive considering that we already had a very strong hand thanks to the AW139 and the AW189. We expect these two types to keep and increase even further their market share in the near term, when older models will be phased out due to obsolesce, low safety standards, and higher costs to operate.”

 


He noted that in the wind power sector, although it is still relatively a niche, “We recently introduced the AW169 [and we have] different customers interested.”

 


Dalmasso said the EMS/SAR markets would also “continue to be important” and believes a competitive edge could be developed in that market by helping “to improve situational awareness or to increase safety in bad weather,” something Leonardo is “constantly” researching. Such technologies include synthetic vision and enhanced vision systems, the Obstacle Proximity LiDAR System, and limited or full ice-protection systems.

 


One threat to helicopter sales could be UAVs, but Leonardo Helicopters is confident that in the wider Leonardo Group, Italy’s leading aerospace company, it is “well positioned” in this sector, too. “As the only OEM in Europe with full integrated capabilities in the UAV domain covering platform and system integration, Leonardo is well positioned in this field and is developing solutions also in the rotorcraft sector. Our UAS division expands the capabilities of vertical lift for certain applications and in range of weight/size categories not necessarily covered by manned rotorcraft.”

 


Linked to this is the emerging eVTOL and urban-mobility market. “It is important to underline that the market is still in the long-term vision phase. Leonardo is always interested in new solutions—the first civil tiltrotor AW609 proves that–and looks carefully at new trends," Dalmasso said. "I would say that, currently, most of our attention is on the technology that can be used for those projects. Examples are the active rotor blade and electric tail rotor."

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