Early – 2005 – he became aware of so-called
gyrocopters in Europe. He established the gyrocopter distribution and training headquarters in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Denmark and Spain. The foundation was the Meidl Airport in
Fertőszentmiklós,
Hungary, where he also established a flight training school. Other manufacturers committed Siebenhofer as a test pilot. Today – since 2009 – he is the owner of “The 7 Group LTD”,
Erbil,
Iraqi Kurdistan. In this year, he will receive the assignment to establish the first training headquarters for
Kurdish pilots in
Iraq, from
Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil, Iraq, in cooperation with the
US Army. Gyrocopters, as well as (as of 2011)
helicopters, will be deployed. 2010 and 2011, further gyrocopters will be delivered to the Kurdish interior ministry and pilots will be trained. To prevent terroristic encroachments, the interior ministry will monitor the approach- and take off paths of the airports in Erbil and
Sulaymaniyah. Beginning in 2011, Siebenhofers company delivered helicopters of the type
Eurocopter EC 120B for the traffic police in Iraqi Kurdistan. Just as with the gyrocopters, he will train the pilots as well as the ground crew. 14 January 2014 was a historic day in Kurdish history: For the first time ever, a Kurdish-only crew flew a helicopter (EC 120B) over Erbil. The crew were Brigadier Khalid Ali Barzinji and First Lieutenant Sarhang Barwari, both trained by The 7 Group. During the advancement of the
Islamic State towards Kurdistan, Siebenhofer did not leave Kurdistan, although he knows he is a target of IS. He is still involved in training and coordinating the missions of the Kurdish police. In August 2013 7 Group LTD deployed two
Eurocopter EC135 helicopters to Kurdistan for the Kurdistan CTU (counter terrorism unit). 7 Group LTD has re-equipped the helicopters. One (S/N 661) was prior owned by
Roman Abramovich and the other one (S/N 681) was originally ordered by the Spanish police, but due to the financial crisis the Spanish government has to step back from the order. So The 7 Group took over the brand new helicopter from
Airbus Helicopters, at this time still called Eurocopter. During the run of the so-called
Islamic state towards the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, the 7 Group assisted the
Peshmerga. Although the helicopters so far on duty by the Kurdish Police are not equipped for
Medevac missions, Siebenhofer personally and his company, The Kurdish Aviation Team, did their utmost and risk their lives when flying to the front line for evacuation of wounded Peshmerga fighters. On these missions, the helicopters were fired at twice and on one occasion a pilot was wounded in his leg. Fortunately and due to the excellent training provided, no total loss was recorded. In addition, an EMS squad was established in
Dohuk. In June 2014 Andi Siebenhofer was awarded a contract by the Counter-Terrorism and Security unit of the Province
Sulaymaniyah to establish a new aviation department. Since then, this department was continuously expanded. As of June 2016, 16 pilots and 8 aviation technicians were trained. During this time four
gyroplanes (type Autogyro MTO Sport) where deployed to be used as a basic training equipment. At the same time three
Airbus Helicopters AS350B3+ (new designation: H125; S/N 4636, 4743 and 8063) as well as one
Cessna Caravan EX (S/N 5043) were delivered to add up to the fleet of the Ministry of Interiors. While the EC135 are stationed in Erbil, the AS350 operate out of Sulaymaniyah. In July 2016, Andi Siebenhofer met the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria,
Sebastian Kurz, in Erbil. On July 17, 2016, Andi Siebenhofer and his company 7 Group LTD were awarded by minister Karim Sinjary a new contract for the provision of services, maintenance and training of the complete aviation fleet of the Kurdish Ministry of Interiors. At this time, the fleet comprises 39 aircraft: 2 MD902, 2 EC135, 4 EC120B, 3 AS350B3, 12 MD530, 1 MD500, 1 Cessna Caravan EX, 12 AutoGyro MTO Sport and 2 AutoGyro Calidus. == Trivia ==