Helicopter Cluster Glarus showcases at symposium

The canton of Glarus intends to make Mollis a competence centre for helicopters by better networking the companies headquartered there.

There are also plans to attract more helicopter companies to the region to strengthen existing competences, explained Christian Zehnder, director of location promotion for the canton of Glarus, in an interview with “Südostschweiz”.

The region has already welcomed companies including the helicopter landing platforms specialist Europoles Suisse and the Kopter Group, which is planning to manufacture and market an innovative helicopter from its base in Mollis.

This year, Kopter has already unveiled its latest helicopter at a symposium in Las Vegas in the USA, while in February, the company inaugurated a new production site at the airport in Mollis, according to SRF.  

As a cluster, Mollis offers companies pilot training, transport flights, charging infrastructures, caretaking and a variety of information concerning helicopters, explained Andreas Gafner of Swiss Skyways Services in a film made by Glarner Standortförderung.

He sees Switzerland as a country well suited to helicopters because it has “a lot of mountains and a lot of work that we do with helicopters”.

On Thursday, the Mollis helicopter base showcased itself to around 200 participants at the 7th Bodensee Aerospace Meeting (BAM), according to a statement. BAM is organised by industry networks from Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Austria and attracts established companies, universities and research institutes who use the symposium to share experiences and data.