Eurocopter, or predecessor Aerospatiale to be precise, started the AS350 serial numbers at 1001 and have in recent months been fast approaching 4999.  The manufacturer then faced a dilemma, as the AS355 numbers start from 5001 and are currently approaching 5800, with production continuing and could potentially exceed 1,000 units taking the serial numbers over 6000.  Accordingly, Eurocopter has decided to jump the AS350 series from 4999 to 7001 and restart at that point.  The first example in the new series is number 7007 registered N794AE to American Eurocopter in Texas.

Some observations by the HeliHub.com team based on this story

• Eurocopter believe they will produce at least another 200 AS355s before closing that production line, despite low production levels in recent years
• They did not expect to produce as many as 4,000 AS350s, so we congratulate them on this most successful product line
• Will they get to 9999?  What happens then?

HeliHub.com would like to thank the AS350 product manager for confirming this information