Bankstown. Helicopter facility opened

Minister for State and Regional Development, Ian Macdonald, has opened the new Turbomeca Australasia helicopter gas turbine maintenance facility at Bankstown Airport. The company, the only company in Australasia assembling new helicopter engines, employs 130 people. Turbomeca used the facility to provide engine build, maintenance and repair services for the Army and RAAF and civilian helicopter engines from as far away as Europe and Africa. About 70 per cent of Turbomeca Australasia, a subsidiary the international Safran group, is for exports markets. “The new facility has not only created new jobs for Western Sydney but provided a valuable addition to NSW’s aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing sectors. This is a vote of confidence in Western Sydney’s highly skilled workforce and clearly demonstrates that NSW can compete successfully in international aerospace markets,“ the minister said.