Airbus Helicopters wrapped up the Heli-Expo 2019 with 43 orders from worldwide customers announced for the whole Airbus civil product range – H125, H130, H135, H145, H160, H175 and H225. Twenty-one helicopters of the 43 orders announced at the show were from longstanding Airbus Helicopters customer Air Medical Group Holdings (AMGH), which unveiled a contract for a mix of single-engine H125s and twin-engine H135s.
Major highlights included the launch of a new version of the H145 providing increased performance, comfort, simplicity and connectivity to the twin-engine best-seller. This new H145 secured launch customers in key market segments with orders for 10 units being announced at the show, as well as retrofits for nine helicopters.
“Heli-Expo is always a great opportunity to meet with our customers and to show them first- hand how we strive to bring innovations that meet their needs, like the five-bladed H145 we unveiled this year,” said Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters CEO. “Our teams are thrilled to see the market reacting so positively to these efforts, and I’m thankful to all the customers who placed their trust in our products in services”.
Airbus performed daily demonstrations of the new digital support and service offerings that were unveiled at the show such as digital log cards, with CHC Helicopter’s newest H175 to become the first helicopter to be delivered with the new system, and the new Flight Analyser data analytics. Key contracts from the HCare support portfolio were signed such as the first HCare Infinite in North America for Superior Helicopters and a global support contract for the 19 helicopters of the National Police Air Service (NPAS) of the United Kingdom, highlighting Airbus’ commitment to delivering efficient support to its customers worldwide.
Heli-Expo also saw some key partnership announcements with the selection of the Pratt & Whitney (PW 206B3) turbine engine to power the Airbus H135 IFR-certified helicopter the company is proposing for the U.S. Navy helicopter trainer replacement. Airbus Helicopters also announced partnerships with Skytrac, AMS and Lundin Software to enhance its data collection capabilities that will enrich Airbus databases and inform analytics services that offer value to customers.