AgustaWestland looks set to cash in on an oil-driven Brazilian helicopter sales bonanza through a joint venture with Embraer that could lead to production of its rotorcraft in the country.
The two airframers have signed a memorandum of understanding which, if a final agreement is reached, would see the establishment of an assembly line in Brazil building helicopters for both the domestic and wider Latin American markets.
Civil and military models are both being looked at by the partners - initially the AW139, AW189 and AW149 - but they have pointed principally to the offshore oil and gas market, which is set to boom with the development of massive oil fields in the Santos Basin, 250km (135nm) east of Rio de Janeiro.
Data from Flightglobal Ascend shows AgustaWestland accounts for less than 14% of the Brazilian market for civil rotorcraft, although the airframer itself puts the figure closer to 25%.
The Brazilian market is dominated by Eurocopter and its local Helibras subsidiary, the only helicopter manufacturer in Latin America. Eurocopter controls nearly 48% of the Brazilian market - directly or via Helibras - with 700 machines in service, on order or in storage, including a major contract to supply its EC725 to all three branches of the nation's military. Second in Brazil is Bell, with 285 helicopters and a 21% market share.
Ironically, while Brazil is the world's largest and fastest-growing helicopter market, its aerospace industry champion Embraer has shown little or no interest in the sector since the late 1960s when the BF-1 Beija-Flor light single-engined helicopter was one of its first projects.
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AgustaWestland, Embraer plan Brazil helicopter assembly line