Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, a unit of United Technologies Corp, expects to sell around 400 helicopters in the Middle East over the next five to ten years, roughly as many as it has delivered to the region to date, its regional head said on Wednesday.

"Expansion of the existing fleet of 400 will be in a proportional manner, and modernisation is going to drive that number in the region," Anand Stanley, vice president and general manager for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, told reporters at a defence industry show in Abu Dhabi.

Most countries in the Middle East, especially the oil-rich Gulf states, are working hard to modernise their transport systems and economies, and this will boost demand for helicopters, he said.

Sikorsky, which makes both commercial and military aircraft, has a joint venture with a unit of Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala and Lockheed Martin in Abu Dhabi for aircraft maintenance.

Sikorsky plans to open a regional office in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and is opening a new business unit in Saudi Arabia to support military and commercial aircraft, Stanley said. – Reuters