CASA and Eurocopter Set Up Eurocopter España

Eurocopter, September 26, 2000 - Marignane, France - Mr. Alberto Fernandez, President and CEO of EADS-CASA and Mr. Jean-François BIGAY, President and CEO of Eurocopter recently signed an agreement to establish Eurocopter Espana.

On September 28, 2000, this new Eurocopter subsidiary with CASA participation will take over from HESA, the first Eurocopter representative established in Spain. After a preliminary build-up period, it will be fully operational by early 2001. Eurocopter Espana will be based south of Madrid, in Quatro Vientos.

This new subsidiary has been set up mainly so that Eurocopter will be better placed to ensure greater customer satisfaction over the next ten years, to meet the growing market requirements more efficiently, to reinforce industrial agreements in high tech fields and to create real opportunities for helicopters to be exported from Spain.

Eurocopter Espana will be the third company in the Group after the French and German companies.

Moreover, with this new subsidiary, the entire spectrum of helicopter activities from engineering to customer support and including production will be integrated into a Spanish company.

The vocation of this new subsidiary will also be to play an active part in multinational programs such as the TIGER program in association with Eurocopter Tiger, the NH90 program in association with NHI, the Tilt Rotor program in association with the Eurotilt consortium, and any future Eurocopter program. Finally, this subsidiary will be a base from which helicopters will be exported to other countries.

Eurocopter is a fully owned subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), one of the three leading aerospace companies in the world.