Eurocopter scores a billion euros in sales in three days

(PARIS) - The world's biggest civil helicopter producer, Eurocopter, said Wednesday it had sold 191 aircraft for a catalogue price of 1.1 billion euros ($1.44 billion) at an airshow in Dallas.

"For the whole of last year we sold 170 helicopters. This year we sold 191 in just three days in the US if we count everything together -- contracts and options," Eurocopter chief executive Lutz Bertling told AFP.

"The world market is coming back strongly," he said, predicting global helicopter sales of more than 500 models, led by Eurocopter and fellow European rival AgustaWestland.

Bertling said the three-day sales surge at Heli-Expo 2012 represented more than a billion euros in sales and represented the rough equivalent of a whole year in trade for the European firm, a subsidiary of aerospace giant EADS.

Eurocopter had chosen the Texas trade show to unveil its new EC130 T2, an updated version of its popular Ecureuil, designed principally for tourism and passenger transport -- and sold 105 of them to seven clients.

"This helicopter will be more successful than its predecessor," Bertling said, predicting that in time more than 400 could be sold around the world.

The Dallas show also saw strong sales for the bigger seven-tonne EC175, designed to carry up to 16 passengers and support the offshore oil industry.