Khanty-Mansiysk. On April 12, Russia’s Cosmonautics Day, which commemorates the world’s first manned space flight, UTair Aviation (UTair Aviation, JSC) will hold the presentation and official opening of its subsidiary, based in the Republic of South Africa, - UTair South Africa (UTair SA). The event will take place in Cape Town.

During the presentation, it is planned to show Mil helicopters, as well as to hold working meetings aimed at expanding the company’s activities in South Africa.

Heads of UTair and UTair SA, the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, the Kazan Helicopter Plant as well as Russia’s aviation authorities will attend the ceremony.

In addition, among the presentation’s participants will be representatives of the South African transportation ministry, Russia’s embassy to South Africa, as well as present and potential UTair clients.

According to UTair general director Andrey Martirosov, the airline is interested in developing its helicopter business in the Republic of South Africa. “We have carried out serious preparations to establish UTair SA, and we already now have positive results,” he said. “It is obvious that we were right in choosing the country and the region for creating the first subsidiary within the framework of establishing an international helicopter holding,” Martirosov underlined.

Moreover, he commented that UTair was carrying out serious work to choose a European country for establishing an aviation subsidiary in Europe. “We are carefully studying the laws of several European countries and the condition of their aviation markets. We hope to make a decision this year,” Martirosov said.

At present, five helicopters of UTair Aviation are based in South Africa. They are used for extinguishing forest fires and other purposes.