“We are manufacturing the primary fuselage structures of the U.S. helicopter ‘Bell 412,’ which is used in about 70 countries around the world, right here in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do.”
In an interview with the Korea Economic Daily on the 21st, Son Chang-hwan, CEO of Hana Aerodynamics, stated, “Based on our capabilities ranging from fixture manufacturing and component production to structural assembly, we have become a Tier 1 supplier to Bell.” Bell is a subsidiary of Textron, a major U.S. aerospace and defense company that recorded $4.282 billion (approx. 5.7 trillion KRW) in revenue last year. Introduced in 1981, the Bell 412 is the world’s most widely used helicopter for firefighting and rescue operations.

Hana Aerodynamics produces four main types of parts—the nose section, left and right beam structures, roof skin, and tail structure—and supplies them to Bell. After signing an export contract in 2023, the company delivered its first products in April 2024.

Hana Aerodynamics earned Bell’s trust due to supply chain disruptions faced by overseas competitors. When Bell faced the crisis of being unable to complete fuselage structures because certain components failed to arrive, Hana Aerodynamics directly developed and supplied the required parts. CEO Son noted, “Parts that typically take six to eight months to develop were built and delivered in about a month, which completely changed how they view us.”

Hana Aerodynamics has localized most of the parts it previously imported from overseas. It shifted from assembling parts supplied by Bell to directly manufacturing them. The company also boosted profitability by internally producing fixtures—the production equipment used to fix and align parts. CEO Son explained, “The number of localized products reaches 255 items. By manufacturing parts in-house, the amount we receive for delivering a single helicopter’s worth of structures has increased by about 45% compared to before.” Last month, Hana Aerodynamics signed a contract with Bell to supply fuselage structures for up to 120 helicopters over the next five years.

Remarkable Financial Improvements

Financial performance is showing notable improvements. In the first half of this year, the company recorded revenue of 20.59 billion KRW and an operating profit of 4.83 billion KRW, representing increases of 4.9% and 9.9% year-on-year, respectively. The operating profit margin jumped sharply by 18.1 percentage points, rising from 5.4% in 2023 to 23.5% in the first half of this year.

CEO Son stated, “Hana Aerodynamics plans to diversify its customer base to include Israel’s IAI and Japan’s Subaru. We will build a new plant in Jinju and invest in large-scale sheet metal and heat treatment facilities to expand our production capacity.” He expressed confidence, adding, “We aim to push our operating profit margin up to 30%.” Hana Aerodynamics is scheduled to list on the KOSDAQ market next month.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]