Airbus Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters’ Racer demonstrator, developed in the frame of the European Research Clean Sky 2 project, performs its first flight in Marignane. The aircraft flew for about 30 minutes, allowing the flight-test team to check the overall behavior of the aircraft. This important milestone launches the flight campaign, which will take two years and will aim to progressively open the aircraft’s flight envelope and demonstrate its high-speed capabilities.

Airbus Helicopters and GDAT sign a contract for up to 20 H175 helicopters (ten firm orders and ten options). GD Helicopter Finance (GDHF), a start-up helicopter leasing and finance company based in Dublin, Ireland, will be marketing these H175 helicopters to customers in the energy, SAR, EMS and parapublic market segments worldwide.

Airbus Helicopters signs an agreement with Aerovel regarding the acquisition of Aerovel and its unmanned aerial system (UAS), Flexrotor, as part of a strategy to strengthen its portfolio of tactical unmanned solutions. Flexrotor is a small tactical unmanned aerial system designed for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions at sea and over land.

Le Havre-Fécamp Pilot Station and Airbus Helicopters sign a contract for the acquisition of an H135 to be used for marine pilot transfers. By the end of 2024, the H135 will replace an AS365 N3 Dauphin helicopter that has been in service for more than 12 years. The agreement also includes a 10-year support and service contract covering spare parts, training and logistics services.

Airbus Helicopters and the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) test the unmanned aerial system (UAS) VSR700 for the first time in an operational configuration from a ship at sea. At the beginning of May, the VSR700 performed 80 fully autonomous take-offs and landings from a civil vessel equipped with a helicopter deck, cruising off the coast of Brittany in the west of France.

Garmin (NYSE: GRMN) announces it recently received the 2022 Operational Excellence Award from Airbus Helicopters at its annual Supplier Conference in Marignane, France. In addition to recognizing excellence in on-time delivery and quality, the award highlights Garmin’s outstanding performance amid a period of global supply-chain challenges.

Law enforcement agencies throughout North America are placing orders for Airbus H125 helicopters, providing their communities with a valuable tool as they work to protect and ensure the safety of their citizens. In total, nineteen H125s were booked for law enforcement missions in 2022. Notable new bookings were made by existing Airbus customer York Regional Police, as well as new Airbus customers Kansas Highway Patrol and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police.

Airbus Helicopters partners with the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation to develop CityAirbus NextGen’s future missions for medical services in Norway. To this end, the parties will jointly measure the added value of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for a selection of medical-services use cases across the country to integrate the operational requirements right into the configuration of Airbus’ eVTOL.

With support from Safran Helicopter Engines, TotalEnergies, and Airbus Helicopters, France’s defense procurement agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement - DGA) carries out the first test flight of an Airbus NH90 in which one of its two RTM322 engines ran on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The fuel meets the aviation industry's objective of accelerating decarbonization without making any modifications to the aircraft, engine or logistics infrastructure (known as a drop-in fuel).

The Helicopter Company (THC), established by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as the first helicopter services provider licensed to operate commercial flights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, signs an HCare In-Service contract with Airbus Helicopters to cover THC's fleet of 20 five-bladed H145 helicopters. The HCare In-Service package has been tailored to THC’s specific operational needs, providing the company with parts availability by-the-hour services to optimize the fleet’s maintenance and performance.