Airbus's helicopters division has just expanded its operations in China, with the inauguration of a new final assembly line in the coastal city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. It’s the aviation giant's first plant for the H-135-family outside Europe.

Helicopter sales in China have been propelled higher by the rapid growth of the offshore wind industry and emergency medical and public services. After two years of construction of the new assembly line, Airbus Helicopters is ready to capitalize on that demand.

"We are moving on with the Qingdao-made helicopters, the two first units are going to be rolled out at the end of the year," said Marie-Agnes Veve, general manager of Airbus Helicopters China.

The new line was designed specifically for the final assembly of Airbus H135, a twin-engine helicopter known for its high endurance and ability to land almost anywhere to perform difficult missions. To be able to work here, engineers like Su Jun had to complete a seven-month intensive training program in Germany. "We were trained to follow a standardized production procedure, where all the instructions were in English. The line in Qingdao meets the same production requirements as the plants in Europe," said Su Jun, an assembly engineer of the Qingdao plant.

The Chinese market for civil helicopters has blossomed in recent years. In the past decade, market demand has quadrupled, and it is likely to continue that climb as China plans to further open its airspace for the general aviation industry.

Speaking of China's low-altitude airspace control, Veve said: "We will help China aviation corporation and provinces in China in order to give relevant information... we are very ambitious to have this big constraint removed, because it is the main restriction for the development of the general aviation industry in China.

"The initial annual capacity of the assembly line is set at 18 helicopters, but it could be doubled in the next few years to accommodate growing demand. Supporting facilities like distribution offices, maintenance and repair centers and training bases are being built."