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"Personally I favor a pragmatic approach towards industrial alliances that can truly bring increased value and benefits for the company, whether with Europeans, the USA or with other partners."

1. How do you see the position of your company in the market? What is the overriding long term aim of your company?
Agusta, a Finmeccanica company, belongs to the restricted group of helicopter companies which are leaders at world level and our aim is to strengthen Agusta's position world-wide.

2. How would you quality the business situation of your company in 1999, especially regarding orders/turnover, competitive situation, etc.?
In 1999 Agusta continued to improve its performances, with a revenue in excess of US$ 800 million. Exports and international sales accounts for about 58% of total revenue. Our order backlog stood at more than US$ 2,5 billion at year-end. Agusta's 1999 world-wide deliveries totalled 64 helicopters, of which 19 where to the military sector and 45 to the civil. Deliveries are equally divide between light-twin and medium-heavy. The Company employs around 5,000 people.

3. Which companies do you see as your main competitors?
Agusta competes world-wide on the basis of the company's range of products, its ability to maintain and improve new technologies in order to produce upgrade or new products and its focus on customer support.

4. How would you assess the general situation in the civil market right now?
The past three years have been good ones for the civil rotorcraft industry. Sales have grown up in a number of key markets including corporate, emergency medical service and law enforcement.

5. ....and how do you see the mid-term outlook to 2005 (expansion, new equipment trends, etc.)?
In the civil sector we expect an expansion in the overall market with customers giving increasing importance to cost effectiveness in the choice of helicopter.

6. How would you assess the general situation in the military market right now?
The military market is growing-up and on the verge of a significant rebound.

7. ... and how do you see the mid-term military outlook to 2010?
I expect that it will increase in the future. One of the drivers behind this growth are the numbers of recent small regional conflicts that has favoured the use of rapid deployment forces.

8. Which region(s) of the world will see the fastest growth in helicopter sales in the next five years?
The USA remains the major helicopter market. But also in Europe and Asia, after the region's recent economic crisis, there are interesting perspectives.

9. ... and which region(s) will be the most difficult?
The USA remains also the most difficult market, so it is a logical choice for Agusta to have a strong US partner, like Bell, there.

10. Which class of helicopters will grow fastest in the next five years?
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11. What are the main regulatory problems for helicopters today (heliport, insurance, FAA regulations, etc.)?
The development of the tiltrotor will certainly require the authorities to make an effort for supporting the helicopter industry with specific regulations and type certification procedures. But I think that there are two more challenges on which we have to focus our attention. First, we have to promote a full integration of the helicopter in the flight transport system, developing environment friendly products. Second, we need to remove limitations placed on the helicopter's access to urban areas, creating suitable infrastructure such as heliports and helipads.

12. What are the determining factors in customer buying decision today?
We have to providing value for money to the customer, improving substantially the helicopters productivity.

13. Does your company intend to introduce new models in the next five years? In which sector?
The new scenario forces us to look harder for the very best project where to invest, not merely the "next" modern helicopter. Agusta is well positioned to respond to current and new markets requirements with a wide range of helicopters with state of the art technology such as the A119 Koala, the A109 Power, the A129 International and the EH101. Moreover, the AB139 and the BA609, that we will introduce on the market in the next years, are part of our answer to the new market requirements.

14. Is there overcapacity in the helicopter industry?
I agree on recent analyses that underline an industrial overcapacity. Agusta has always believed that an increase in collaboration between the major manufacturers is a prerequisite for sound development of the rotary wing industry in the future. Our alliance with GKN Westland and our program's link with Bell have been based on good experiences of working together. As a matter of fact we need to look beyond the scenario of the European industrial agglomeration due to the ever-increasing globalization of the market.

15. Will there be more mergers/sales/consolidations in the helicopter industry in the near future?
I am not able to make prediction about how collaboration and alliances will develop in the helicopter industry. Personally I favor a pragmatic approach towards industrial alliances that can truly bring increased value and benefits for the company, whether with Europeans, the USA or with other partners. However, what I can say is that this process must result in greater specialization of the companies. This specialization will follow basically two lines: by type of "technology" as in Bell/Agusta 609 tiltrotor or by type of "helicopter" as in Agusta/Westland EH101 and in Agusta/Fokker/Eurocopter NH90.

16. What are the main technological trends in helicopter design in the next decade?
In my opinion, in the future the tiltrotor technology has the potential to expand business and other rotorcraft usage, and Agusta is deeply involved in such technology activities. We have also to further develop all the helicopter's maintainability that must become a watchword of the industry, a characteristic of the aircraft that has to be "built in" in the early stage of development. In particular, continuous progress is required in developing systems for health and usage monitoring to allow "on condition" maintenance, to maximise component life and to aid fault analysis. In order to maintain its competitive edge in technology and to guarantee a constant stream of innovations, Agusta constantly undertakes research activities in the specific key areas of helicopter technology and continues to update its current helicopters line and launch new models alone or in collaboration with others partners. Yet, our job in Europe today is to catch up some of the technological lead that the USA has in aerospace. To do that, we need a consistent and effective R&D policy from individual States and increased interest and funding in our industry from the European Union.

17. Will there be a breakthrough for new concepts like tiltrotors? How much market share can they win?
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18. What is your vision for the helicopter industry in 2025? Will there be totally new uses, new vertical flight concepts, the helicopter for everyone, city-centre tiltrotor shuttle services, etc.?
I don't know if in the future there will be the helicopter for "everyone", but for sure the tiltrotor market prospective is bright. Anyhow, first of all we must create a helicopter culture, not just among potential users, but also among those, who, by virtue of their function, have the task of issuing operating regulations or laws so that they take today's new requirements into account in their decision.