Swedish helicopter sales and marketing specialist Savback Helicopters has been appointed as the exclusive distributor of Dufour Aerospace’s Aero3 tilt-wing eVTOL aircraft in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
Savback has over 30 years’ experience of selling helicopters, and as a result it has extensive knowledge of the vertical lift market.
“We strongly believe that Dufour Aerospace’s eight-seater Aero3 provides options for both today’s helicopter market, as well as new use cases which its cutting-edge technology opens up for us,” said the Swedish company’s CEO, Reja Savbäck. “We are proud of this partnership, as it shows that Dufour Aerospace trusts both our vast experience and our network in the aviation industry.”
Thomas Pfammatter, Dufour’s CEO and co-founder, said: “Savback Helicopters is a reliable, experienced partner, well positioned to promote our Aero3 aircraft in Scandinavia. It makes us proud that such an experienced company strongly anchored in the helicopter market believes in the real potential of our vision, designs and team.”
With its tilt-wing design, Dufour’s Aero3 combines the ability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter with the efficiency and speed of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft. Employing a hybrid electric propulsion system, it has a maximum take-off weight of 2,800 kg (6,173 lb), a useable weight of 750 kg (1,653 lb), a maximum speed of 350 km/h (189 kt) and a range of 1,020 km (551 nm).
While the Aero3 will be well suited to passenger and cargo transportation roles, its Swiss developer is initially focusing on applications that do not require additional new infrastructure, such as air ambulance and SAR operations.
